The Festival returned with a bang in 2021 and was the first live music festival to go ahead in Scotland in almost 18 months. As it was the first Festival since the global pandemic, we wanted to ensure everyone’s safety so we worked with slightly restricted capacities, and this proved to be extremely popular with both the audience and the musicians, some of whom had not played in front of a live audience for well over 18 months.
The event had some great headliners, with Tide Lines debuting at the Glen Scotia West Coast Rocks Concert along with Beinn Lee. The fantastic fiddle player Ross Cooper performed two sets, one with Tom Oaks on Sunday afternoon and the other with Da Birlinn, which can be viewed here on our YouTube channel. Claire Hastings, who sent us a great set for the Virtual Festival, finally got a chance to play live on Saturday evening, and Ainsley Hamill performed on Sunday.
The Beinn an Tuirc Festival Gaelic Night found a new home in the Argyll Arms Hotel in the opening concert of the event, with Catherine Tinney and Coner Markey headlining a line-up that included Norman MacKinnon and Iain MacPherson. Rhuvaal performed at both the Sat & Sun night Victoria Hall concerts, and we were delighted to have the Wee Toon Tellers on stage at the Festival Ceilidh alongside the Scotia Ceilidh Band.
Slainte Davaar Allstars brought the Festival to a close and included a live version Space Oddity which had been so prominent at the Virtual event in 2020.