There haven’t been many roles that Michelle Shields hasn’t carried out at her beloved HebCelt festival in Stornoway over the years.
She still remembers the excitement of the town coming alive during the event when she was a young girl, picking up her wristbands and hearing groups she would never normally have had the chance to watch performing live in the Western Isles.
Since then, Michelle has worn many hats in the entertainment business, whether working as a freelance floor manager in myriad facets of television from sports broadcasts to children’s programmes and quiz shows, or bringing her expertise to the forefront at several events organisations, festivals and what she describes as a “well known and loved music agency”.
At HebCelt, meanwhile, she started in the box office, moved on to managing it, then subsequently assisted the festival director as artist coordinator – and has now advanced to the role of artist programmer for the proceedings which take place next July.
No one-size-fits-all in music
Her musical tastes were very much influenced by HebCelt, and as a native Gaelic speaker, she freely admits she has a penchant for a good singalong and is always ready to don her dancing shoes for a late-night ceilidh. But the festival taught her, from a very young age, that music does not have to be defined by a genre.
In fact, from her perspective, it’s part of its appeal if it isn’t.
As she said: “Not everyone needs to slot into a box, genres can mix and merge to create new and exciting styles. My taste is very eclectic – isn’t everyone’s?
“You can listen to different types of music for different types of moods and each one can create new memories. The special thing about festivals in general, and HebCelt in particular, is that you will see someone that you may not necessarily have chosen to go and see; they introduce us to something new to our ears.”
First acts announced for HebCelt 2024 as weekend tickets go on sale
Get your tickets booked early
A litany of stellar names, including Del Amitri, Sharon Shannon and Elephant Sessions, have already been announced for the extravaganza from July 17 to 20.
And one detects, even though we’re in the build up to Christmas rather than the summer holidays, that the stakhanovite Michelle is dotting the is and crossing the ts on what she is confident will be another successful event in the Outer Hebrides.
Of course, there are many people who have never been to her native environs. So what’s her advice to those who might be planning a visit in the New Year?
She said: “My message to anyone that hasn’t been yet is quite simple. You are absolutely welcome to join us at HebCelt 2024 and be part of the family.
“But be quick, because I can tell you that those tickets are flying out the door!”
Further information is available from hebceltfest.com/
