The shores of Loch Ness were transformed into a “nightclub under the stars” on Saturday.
In only its second year, Groove Loch Ness sold out its 2,500 tickets the night before the event and was another major success.
A string of international DJs helped turn the farmland at Dores, overlooking the iconic loch, into a giant, non-stop party zone.
The impressive roster of acts included the acclaimed producer Duke Dumont, German DJ Alexander Ridha, better known by his stage name Boys Noize, Grammy-nominated DJ and producer Mark Knight, Glasgow-based Optimo and hot new production/DJ duo Camelphat.
Leftfield, regarded as one of the electronic music world’s greatest acts, was the special guest for the one-day festival.
Now led solely by founding member Neil Barnes, Leftfield delighted fans by releasing new music last year in the form of their third studio album The Alternative Light Source.
Dougie Brown, of the organising committee, declared Groove Loch Ness a “fantastic success” and expressed confidence it will continue to develop in the future.
He said: “We have been given incredible feedback so far. We condensed the site and brought everything closer together this year which created a special atmosphere.
“We were extremely lucky with the weather, the sun shone all day. The DJs had a fantastic time, they thought it was amazing and they loved the location.”
Speaking about special guest, Leftfield, he added: “Neil went down amazingly well, he was really popular. The same goes for Boys Noize and Duke Dumont – they were great, the place was bouncing for them.
“Everyone had a really good time. We stuck to what we did last year, which was to create a nightclub under the stars. A really important thing for us was the visual side of it – the projection shows. Fingers crossed that we will be back next year with a similar show.”
The festival is organised by a group of partners from the north’s music scene including Joe Gibbs of the Belladrum Festival, Caroline Campbell of Inverness venue the Ironworks and Sam Barker who led the same group’s recent venture Groove Cairngorm.
