HebCelt enjoys 'most successful year ever' as Lulu delights crowds

The Herald Scotland

4 days ago

The festival is now announcing it has frozen ticket prices for early bird briefs for the third year in a row.
Next year's festival takes place between July 15 and 18, 2026 but work has already begun on both that and the 30th anniversary event which follows in 2027.
Festival chair Ian MacPhail said: 'It's been the most successful festival in our history and is a testament to all those who have worked, volunteered and supported us in building what is essentially a pop-up village to deliver a best in class, internationally renowned event.
(Image: Handout)
'Led by an inspired line-up of music, creativity at every turn and perhaps the most supportive community in the world, Stornoway and the entire Isle of Lewis can be rightfully proud of what the festival family has achieved together.
'Standing side by side with our sponsors and public funding bodies, we have invested wisely in new technology and site enhancements to improve the festival visitor experience, brand recognition, and to capture a return on investment to help sustain our efforts. We simply could not have done it without their incredible backing.
'We will reflect on everything we have achieved at this year's festival, as we look to continue building forward towards next year and our milestone event in 2027. We are so very grateful to everyone who played a role in this year's successes.'
Carol Ferguson, Festival Operations Co-Ordinator, said: 'It's been a very special year and we've been overjoyed at the feedback from people talking about what a great atmosphere there was this year, how the new canvas teepee areas brought a real warmth to the look, and how sensational the music has been.
'The weather was really kind and we saw a big increase in sales across all our bars but with much smaller queues because the investment in tap and go payment just speeded everything up. We also had more band merchandise on sale this year, that we don't charge commission on, so it meant the artist could benefit even more too.
'We've put a lot of focus too on improving accessibility and welfare at the site, with relaxed concerts at our fringe events, and making everything more family friendly than ever which saw a real boost in the number of younger people coming along for what in many cases was their first major festival, and the town itself was absolutely buzzing.'
The festival was said to be worth an estimated £4.1 million to the local economy last year, and that is likely to have risen again in 2025.
The good weather helped those in attendance with bar takings up by 10%.
Headline acts Tide Lines, Lulu and Skerryvore led the way, with stand-out performances by Elias Alexander, Nina Nesbitt, Laura Silverstone, Ruairidh Gray, El Sartel, Kassidy, Josie Duncan, and The Tumbling Souls.
Read More
There was also good news for the likes of Eddi Reader, Willie Campbell, Skerryvore and An Lanntair's cultural chief Alex Macdonald, with all receiving their HebCelt Hall of Fame Awards too across the four-day celebration after being inducted in the run up to this year's festival.
Michelle Shields, Artist Programmer, said: 'The exceptional talent performing at this year's HebCelt was simply world class, and we're overjoyed at the reception they got, with fans snapping up tickets right up to the very last minute.
'Sold out events, Hall of Fame celebrations, platforming some truly amazing new talent particularly providing a stage to up and coming local musicians and the Gàidhlig language.
'It was a real mix of styles which will have hopefully inspired so many people in different ways. We cannot wait to confirm our special guests for next summer's festival - it's going to be outstanding.'
Around 70% of those performing had a female lead or female member in the line-up. Amid the huge crowds HebCelt also lived up to its fun loving and family friendly reputation with zero arrests recorded.
Early bird tickets for next year go on sale this Friday at https://www.hebceltfest.com/booking