Next month’s Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival will boast a number of exciting new features – including a wire zipline that allows revellers to take in the scenic surroundings from the air.
Believed to be a festival first in Scotland, the 490ft-long wire will carry people from a high point down across a burn and over tepees before safely landing in a small wooded “dell” area.
A New Orleans-themed jazz and blues bar, located beside the take-off point, is also a new attraction this year.
Festival organiser Joe Gibbs has assured people that there will be an improved traffic management plan in place following major congestion a year ago, when the festival’s clash with the Black Isle Show resulted in massive tailbacks along key routes.
Campsites, parking areas and the main arena will open four hours earlier, extra entrances have been built and a new shuttle bus service will be put on by Stagecoach to convey people between Belladrum and the Black Isle Show.
Belladrum takes place from August 4 to 6 and coincides with the annual agricultural event on August 4.
Mr Gibbs said: “We had a number of delays last year and have been working constantly since then with the Black Isle Show organisers, Highland Council and Police Scotland to come up with ways to improve that.
“What would be tremendously helpful is if people could arrive early rather than at rush hour, which has been the case in the past.
“If you arrive early, you have the option of getting the bus to the Black Isle Show and we want to make it as easy as possible to go between the two events.
“We are hoping the zipline is a festival first for Scotland. And, for the jazz bar, we are building a set which looks a bit like a New Orleans street. It’s a genre we have not really had at Belladrum before and thought it would be a bit different.
“The balance of tickets is pretty steady every year – 60% from the Highlands and 40% from elsewhere in Scotland”.
There will also be some exciting new art on show from local artist Julia Kirk, who has transformed a T34 Russian tank into an impressive floral display.
There will also be a group of chauffeurs on hand for a small fee to help anyone struggling to carry their luggage and equipment to the campsite.
