Devastated fans lifted their spirits after the cancelled Tiree Music Festival by holding their own ceilidh in a hall being used to coordinate the emergency response.
More than 1,000 people had been due to attend the island event at the weekend until extreme weather forced it to be cancelled just hours before it was due to start.
The announcement left hundreds stranded with no campsite to pitch a tent, nowhere else to stay and no way back to the mainland.
However, instead of being consumed with worry and stress, some Tiree Music Festival-goers shook off the bad news by having a packed ceilidh party while local residents opened their doors to those affected.
Later in the evening, musicians also performed impromptu gigs in homes across the island.
‘Amazing community spirit on Tiree’
Bethany Graves travelled to Tiree Music Festival from Edinburgh with two friends from Lossiemouth and one from Aberdeen.
Being a keen watersports enthusiast and festival-goer, the marine biologist was eager to sample the atmosphere on the island.
However, despite her initial live entertainment plans for the weekend being dashed, they were replaced by others following the generosity of islanders.
She said: “As soon as we got there everyone was talking about the weather, but they thought it was going to be manageable and they had put out some communication about it.
“We were probably one of the last groups back after it was cancelled and all the tepees were completely flat. We had to pull our one down and ended up ripping it in half.
“We went into the community centre, there were hundreds of people there and it looked like there was a contingency plan because we were immediately given a hot drink and a blanket.
“It was all a bit mad in there. Some people were crying, but other people were ceilidh dancing.”
Bethany and the rest of her group were eventually put up in the home of an islander.
Despite their initial Tiree Music Festival plans being dashed, the festival-goers were treated to an impromptu gig from musicians due to appear on the line-up, including from Skerryvore, while the storm raged outside.
And after enjoying their first night so much, they decided to stay another to spend another day
Bethany said: “When we were walking about everyone was offering us a lift, offering to take our bags or just asking if we need help.
“There was just amazing support from the community, you could really see that.”
‘Want to support Tiree Music Festival’
Tiree Music Festival organisers say they have already begun the process to claim an insurance payout following the cancellation of the event – and say they will offer refunds to ticket holders in due course.
However, some festival-goers have said they are not interested in their money back, instead preferring to have their money support next year’s event.
Bethany added: “We would prefer to roll our tickets over to next year’s event to help with the funding for that.
“Lots of people have been asking where to buy merchandise because they just want to support them.
“Tiree isn’t the easiest place to get to. It takes a certain type of person to go, I think you really have to embrace and care about the community.”
