Dedicated Mumford and Sons fans queued in Inverness for hours to get their hands on tickets to see the band perform in Aviemore this summer.
More than 25,000 people are expected to descend on the village for the two-day Gentlemen of the Road festival at nearby Rothiemurchus Estate.
The in-demand briefs went on sale yesterday and one hardy music lover set up camp outside the Ironworks in Inverness at 6am, four hours before the doors were opened.
Ben Kerr, 34, of Inverness, came prepared with a camping chair to take the weight off his feet, was finally rewarded as the first to get his hands on the first tickets sold.
However he was the only person arriving so early and was not joined by another fan for more than an hour.
He said: “To be honest I was expecting a bit more of a queue so I got here early. I sat in my car for a bit before getting out because I wasn’t sure what was happening.
“I was glad when the next guy arrived and it wasn’t just me. I’m just glad to have got the tickets, it should be a good weekend.”
Second in the queue was Stuart Mack, 30, also of Inverness.
He said: “It’s all about Mumford and Sons, I’ve seen them before at T in the Park and that was pretty mental so I’m looking forward to seeing them here in the Highlands.”
Queues also formed at the Old Bridge Inn in Aviemore for tickets, with the first punters arriving there at around 7.30am.
Owner Owen Caldwell said that about 50 people were waiting at the door ahead of the tickets going on sale.
He added: “It’s stayed like that pretty much ever since. We’ve sold about 300 tickets already by lunchtime.
“Everybody is pretty excited by the whole thing.”
The bulk of sales for the event are expected to take place online.
The two-day music and arts festival will feature headline performances from Mumford and Sons, as well as live appearances by Ben Howard, Primal Scream, The Maccabees, Lianne La Havas and others to be announced.
Mumford and Sons have previous Highland experience, having headlined Rockness and Loopallu in recent years.
Aviemore is the only European leg of the touring festival, with four other dates in the USA.
The festival will be held at the Dell of Rothiemurchus, beside the River Spey and overlooked by the Cairngorms, with around 19,000 camping spaces on the site.