Latest news with #Torridon
Daily Record
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Record
Heartland Festival 2025 given the go-ahead by Perth and Kinross Council
Skerryvore and Kyle Falconer are among the acts due to perform at next month's festival in Pitlochry The organiser of Pitlochry's Heartland Festival dreams of it growing to become a "mini Glastonbury for Scotland". Ticket sales for this year's festival are up 40 per cent on last year's which - while generating £1.8 million for the local economy - is expected to operate at a loss for the second year running. Organiser Graham Howie had not planned on running the festival for a second year - after losing so much last year - but agreed after festival-goers pleaded for the "best festival" to be repeated. The festival director made the revelation as he presented the public entertainment licensing application for Heartland Festival 2025 to Perth and Kinross Licensing Committee on Monday, May 12. It is due to take place at Pitlochry's Recreation Ground from June 28 to 29. Skerryvore, Kyle Falconer, Torridon and Nathan Evans and the St Phx Band are among the headline acts due to perform. Councillors unanimously granted a public entertainment licence for this year's festival. But Cllr Keith Allan challenged Mr Howie on running the festival at a financial loss. Mr Howie said: "In years to come, I think there's a capacity there to bring the event up to 10,000 but if you go over that, you start to lose the community feel. "If you get the ticket pricing right, there's no reason that the festival could be profitable. We have a little advertising this year. We haven't been able to get a sponsor so that's one of my key tasks for August onwards to try and find someone who will sponsor us, without us losing our integrity. It's a difficult call but I believe it's achievable. "The ticketing is a very difficult balance. I priced the early bird tickets too cheaply last year. They were £34 for the weekend so we sold a lot - but it's come back to bite me now because the demand was clearly there. I think if we had sold them at £45/50 - bearing in mind that was half the price - we would have sold the same amount. "I want to keep the prices low as it is a family event but it is a commercial event. If I don't make money then I can't invest in it and grow it." Presenting the application to councillors, Heartland Festival Ltd owner Mr Howie said "the response from the community and the public was absolutely overwhelming" following last year's inaugural event. He added: "One of the biggest compliments we got was that 'it didn't feel like a first-time event, it felt like an event that had been running for years and years'. "I wasn't actually planning to do a second festival because I lost so much money on the first one but that's my loss and my loss to take. "It became clear from the response on Facebook and with emails from people asking if we wanted to do this again. We actually put a post on Facebook asking that very question and - within 20 minutes - we had 300 replies saying 'please run the festival again - it's the best festival we ever went to'. "It will still make a small loss this year but nothing like the amount of money that was lost the previous year. I'd hope that for 2026 and 2027 we'll be into a small profit and then be able to grow it accordingly in conjunction with normal business practices." He cited a Scottish Government document which showed "a benefit of £1.8 million coming into the local economy this year". He added: "Ticket sales for 2025 are 40 per cent up on 2024. We're now expecting in the region of 5000 people on Saturday and nearer 7000 on Sunday so it's a huge improvement on the previous year and shows the popularity of the event. "Support from the community is even higher in numbers and stronger than it was the previous year and I'm very grateful to all the volunteers that help us put on the event." The family-friendly festival is free to children under the age of 13. Teenagers are admitted half-price. There is even a dedicated children's area. There is no camping on site but this year there will be shuttle buses running to four local campsites - Grandtully Station Campsite, Aberfeldy Caravan Park, Faskally Caravan Park and Blair Castle Caravan Park. In addition, there will be a link-up with FlixBus and Citylink which connect the Highland Perthshire village to Scotland's major cities. The festival will finish an hour earlier at 10pm - rather than 11pm - to "minimise disturbance" and allow revellers to leave by bus. The festival's exclusively all-Scottish line-up may however move towards being "predominantly Scottish". Mr Howie said: "I don't know for how long we can keep it exclusively Scottish acts because we're starting to run out already but it will always be a predominantly Scottish act festival." New and unknown acts can gain exposure on the Discovery Stage. Heartland Festival will then promote two of the best Discovery Stage acts to the Main Stage. This year sees last year's Discovery Stage acts David Delinquent and the IOUs as well as Copper Lungs take to the Main Stage. In terms of refreshments, organisers have teamed up with local brewers Wasted Degrees as well as local food vendors and a local gin company. Councillors were assured a "robust traffic management plan" would be in place and - while there will be some traffic restrictions in place to allow traffic to flow - there will be "no road closures". The application received just one objection. A neighbouring resident - who lives 25 metres from the venue - raised concern about noise and disturbance. An Environmental Health officer - who was on site throughout last year's event - said there were "no breaches" and the team received "no complaints". She added: "I spoke to a number of neighbours round about and I think most of them were at the festival." Appealing to councillors to grant the licence, Mr Howie said: "I could take this to Stirling or to Dunfermline but Pitlochry is my home. "And I hope - with the continued support from the council and volunteers - that we can continue this festival and we can grow it into my dream to be a mini Glastonbury of Scotland for future. "I have done everything I possibly can to minimise disturbance to the local community because I am part of that local community. "If you were going to design a park area to put a festival on, the Recreation Ground is the perfect location." The committee's convener, Highland Perthshire councillor Mike Williamson moved the application for approval. It was seconded by vice-convener Iain MacPherson and unanimously approved by the committee.
STV News
13-05-2025
- Entertainment
- STV News
Heartland Festival organiser hopes to become 'mini Glastonbury for Scotland'
The organiser of Pitlochry's Heartland Festival dreams of it growing to become a 'mini Glastonbury for Scotland'. Ticket sales for this year's festival are up 40% on last year's, which – while generating £1.8 million for the local economy – is expected to operate at a loss for the second year running. Organiser Graham Howie had not planned on running the festival for a second year – after losing so much last year – but agreed after festival-goers pleaded for the 'best festival' to be repeated. The festival director made the revelation as he presented the public entertainment licensing application for Heartland Festival 2025 to Perth and Kinross Licensing Committee on Monday, May 12. It is due to take place at Pitlochry's Recreation Ground from June 28 to 29. Skerryvore, Kyle Falconer, Torridon and Nathan Evans and the St Phx Band are among the headline acts due to perform. Councillors unanimously granted a public entertainment licence for this year's festival. But Cllr Keith Allan challenged Mr Howie on running the festival at a financial loss. Mr Howie said: 'In years to come, I think there's a capacity there to bring the event up to 10,000, but if you go over that, you start to lose the community feel. 'If you get the ticket pricing right, there's no reason that the festival could be profitable. We have a little advertising this year. We haven't been able to get a sponsor, so that's one of my key tasks for August onwards to try and find someone who will sponsor us, without us losing our integrity. It's a difficult call, but I believe it's achievable. LDRS Recreation Ground, Pitlochry 'The ticketing is a very difficult balance. I priced the early bird tickets too cheaply last year. They were £34 for the weekend, so we sold a lot – but it's come back to bite me now because the demand was clearly there. I think if we had sold them at £45/50 – bearing in mind that was half the price – we would have sold the same amount. 'I want to keep the prices low as it is a family event but it is a commercial event. If I don't make money, then I can't invest in it and grow it.' Presenting the application to councillors, Heartland Festival Ltd owner Mr Howie said 'the response from the community and the public was absolutely overwhelming' following last year's inaugural event. He added: 'One of the biggest compliments we got was that 'it didn't feel like a first-time event, it felt like an event that had been running for years and years'. 'I wasn't actually planning to do a second festival because I lost so much money on the first one but that's my loss and my loss to take. 'It became clear from the response on Facebook and with emails from people asking if we wanted to do this again. We actually put a post on Facebook asking that very question and – within 20 minutes – we had 300 replies saying 'please run the festival again – it's the best festival we ever went to'. 'It will still make a small loss this year, but nothing like the amount of money that was lost the previous year. I'd hope that for 2026 and 2027 we'll be into a small profit and then be able to grow it accordingly in conjunction with normal business practices.' He cited a Scottish Government document which showed 'a benefit of £1.8 million coming into the local economy this year'. He added: 'Ticket sales for 2025 are 40 per cent up on 2024. We're now expecting in the region of 5000 people on Saturday and nearer 7000 on Sunday so it's a huge improvement on the previous year and shows the popularity of the event. 'Support from the community is even higher in numbers and stronger than it was the previous year and I'm very grateful to all the volunteers that help us put on the event.' The family-friendly festival is free to children under the age of 13. Teenagers are admitted half-price. There is even a dedicated children's area. There is no camping on site but this year there will be shuttle buses running to four local campsites – Grandtully Station Campsite, Aberfeldy Caravan Park, Faskally Caravan Park and Blair Castle Caravan Park. In addition, there will be a link-up with FlixBus and Citylink which connect the Highland Perthshire village to Scotland's major cities. The festival will finish an hour earlier at 10pm – rather than 11pm – to 'minimise disturbance' and allow revellers to leave by bus. The festival's exclusively all-Scottish line-up may however move towards being 'predominantly Scottish'. Mr Howie said: 'I don't know for how long we can keep it exclusively Scottish acts because we're starting to run out already but it will always be a predominantly Scottish act festival.' New and unknown acts can gain exposure on the Discovery Stage. Heartland Festival will then promote two of the best Discovery Stage acts to the Main Stage. This year sees last year's Discovery Stage acts David Delinquent and the IOUs as well as Copper Lungs take to the Main Stage. In terms of refreshments, organisers have teamed up with local brewers Wasted Degrees as well as local food vendors and a local gin company. Councillors were assured a 'robust traffic management plan' would be in place and – while there will be some traffic restrictions in place to allow traffic to flow – there will be 'no road closures'. The application received just one objection. A neighbouring resident – who lives 25 metres from the venue – raised concerns about noise and disturbance. An environmental health officer, who was on site throughout last year's event, said there were 'no breaches' and the team received 'no complaints'. She added: 'I spoke to a number of neighbours around about and I think most of them were at the festival.' Appealing to councillors to grant the licence, Mr Howie said: 'I could take this to Stirling or to Dunfermline, but Pitlochry is my home. 'And I hope – with the continued support from the council and volunteers – that we can continue this festival and we can grow it into my dream to be a mini Glastonbury of Scotland for the future. 'I have done everything I possibly can to minimise disturbance to the local community because I am part of that local community. 'If you were going to design a park area to put a festival on, the Recreation Ground is the perfect location.' The committee's convener, Highland Perthshire councillor Mike Williamson, moved the application for approval. It was seconded by vice-convener Iain MacPherson and unanimously approved by the committee. Get all the latest news from around the country Follow STV News Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
BBC News
11-05-2025
- Science
- BBC News
Mars rover technology tested out on West Highland rocks
Technology which will be used in the search for evidence of life on Mars has been tested in the Scottish European Space Agency (ESA) plans to send a robotic rover to the Red Planet to study its geology - and look for fossils and minerals.A University of St Andrews team has been testing equipment in Lower Diabaig, in Torridon, where there are rocks that are billions of years old and similar to those found on trials have included of cameras of the type to be used as the rover's "eyes", and kit that can detect ancient biology preserved in the rock. The ExoMars programme comprises two first, called Trace Gas Orbiter, was launched in 2016 while the second has a target launch of 2028, and aims to land the rover on the robot is named after London-born scientist Rosalind Franklin, who died in said the missions would tackle the question of whether life has ever existed on Mars. Dr Claire Cousins of the University of St Andrews said mission technology needed rigorous testing on Earth to make sure it would work on the red said the rare geology around Lower Diabaig was "ideal" as a told BBC Scotland's Landward programme: "The rocks haven't metamorphosed right, they haven't been cooked and squeezed and crushed under mountain belts."They have been beautifully preserved - a slice of time."The rocks include billion-year-old mudstone and other rocks which are stacked one on top of the other in Cousins said: "These are perfect for showing us there was once liquid water - a habitable environment for life."Also, these rocks are very good at capturing evidence of that ancient past biology. It's sandwiched between the rocks."She added: "We don't know yet if there was ever life on Mars, but these are the kinds of rocks that are going to preserve it." Seven years ago a Nasa Mars rover, Curiosity, explored a part of the planet named after geological areas and features have been named by Nasa after places on of the names were taken from Scotland and, as well as Torridon, there is a Siccar Point, Muck, Wick, Sandwick and Holyrood on chose the name Torridon due to the Torridonian Supergroup, a geological formation in the north-west Highlands that contains some of the oldest evidence of life of any rocks in the 2012, Glenelg held a celebration in honour of a location on Mars being named after the small Highland community.
BBC News
27-04-2025
- General
- BBC News
Lynx siblings from Kent on 'holiday' in Devon
Two lynx cats are living temporarily at Dartmoor Zoo while their habitat in Kent is and sister Flossie and Torridon arrived at the zoo in Devon on 11 pair are Northern lynx, a subspecies of Eurasian lynx, and there is no specific date yet for their return to Wildwood Trust in Kent. Sally Holt, head of carnivores and small mammals at Wildwood, said the team were building a "significantly larger and more complex habitat" for the siblings. 'Holiday in Devon' Dartmoor Zoo said Flossie and Torridon have adjusted to their new environment.A spokesperson said guests should remain calm in the area where they are living whilst they become more confident. The zoo's chief executive officer David Gibson said: "I don't doubt the two will love their extended holiday in Devon. "Dartmoor Zoo has a long track record of caring for lynx within our collection and our keepers are very much looking to increase their knowledge of this iconic species."
Axios
24-03-2025
- Business
- Axios
Dan Brouillette, former Energy secretary, joins Torridon as co-chair
Dan Brouillette, who was secretary of Energy in President Trump's first term, is joining the strategic advisory firm Torridon Group as co-chair — and is joining the related law firm, Torridon Law, as senior adviser. Why it matters: The Torridon firms — which between them include such powerhouse partners as William Barr, Ted Ullyot, Pat Cipollone, Paul Cappuccio and Mike Kelly — are flush with the kind of experience and savvy that's useful in navigating Washington these days. The firms have seen an influx of business during the new administration. Fred Fielding and David Urban are of counsel. Brouillette told Axios in an interview that Torridon "is positioned to look at business opportunities in ways that others can't," since the partners go way beyond law — with titans of government and corporate experience, including policy and regulation. Brouillette — who spends part of his time on a farm outside Annapolis, Maryland — told us one of his big focuses will be helping locate and expand power for data centers. The backstory: The firm's announcement says that under Brouillette's leadership as deputy secretary and then secretary, "the United States became a net energy exporter for the first time in three generations." "Brouillette is widely credited for his role in helping stabilize global oil markets during the COVID-19 pandemic, and for facilitating the first-ever ministerial-level energy meetings between Israel and key Middle Eastern nations," the announcement adds. "He also led transformative advancements in supercomputing, artificial intelligence (AI), quantum information science (QIS) research, and grid-scale energy storage." After leaving the administration, Brouillette, a specialist in liquefied natural gas (LNG), was president of Sempra Infrastructure, a multinational firm; and president and CEO of the Edison Electric Institute (EEI), which represents investor-owned utilities. Earlier, he was a senior executive at Ford and USAA, and chief of staff to the House Energy and Commerce committee. What they're saying: Barr, who twice was attorney general, called Brouillette "a proven leader with an exceptional track record in both the public and private sectors. Having served alongside him in the Cabinet, I had the opportunity to witness his ability to navigate complex challenges with sound judgment and long-term vision." "His deep understanding of energy markets, corporate strategy, and global risk makes him an invaluable addition to Torridon. I'm thrilled to welcome him to the firm as we continue to build a world-class advisory platform," Barr added. Cipollone, a former White House counsel, said Brouillette "brings exceptional skills and experience, and a long record of service, leadership and success at the highest levels of government and business."
