The Stewartry’s longest running music festival will be celebrating a major milestone this year.
Knockengorroch will take place among the Carsphairn Hills from May 25 to 28 – a quarter of a century after the first event at the site.
Music lovers will be able to enjoy acts including Cut Capers, The Drystones and festival favourites Mungo’s Hi-Fi.
Knockengorroch also has strong green credentials – being a member of the Music Declares Emergency and A Greener Festival schemes – something that is becoming even more important as the world works to tackle the climate crisis.
And according to festival producer Katch Holmes the environment has always been at the heart of what
they do.
She said: “Knockengorroch has always aimed to be a festival that is part of the land it is sited on.
“The open air, main stage has been constructed from locally grown timber and turf roofed to blend into the landscape.
“Similarly the Longhouse venue was constructed based on how an iron age longhouse dwelling on the site would have looked and has been built using traditional and sustainable materials eg mud walls, lime and mortar and a traditional lum chimney made out of clay and wood.
“We feature environmental and land based workshops such as willow wattling, green woodworking, permaculture, herbalism, wild food foraging, pond dipping, the dark skies planetarium and other activities that promote engagement with and learning about the natural landscape that the festival is part of.
“We hope that the activities we offer give festival goers a chance to learn
more about the land.
“Many of our attendees live in the city and the experience of being on a site so far away from a town or a village is an experience in itself.
“We believe that being under skies with no light pollution and seeing the stars lends people another perspective.
“The workshops and other chances to learn and engage results in people respecting and understanding their environment’s better.”
Given its remote location near the border between Dumfries and Galloway and South Ayrshire, people could be forgiven for thinking public transport wasn’t really an option to get there but that’s not the case.
Special shuttle buses will run from Edinburgh and Glasgow to the site to help reduce carbon footprints, while a higher percentage of ticket prices goes towards vehicle entry rather than people, encouraging people to use public transport.
The site on the north east tip of the Galloway Forest Park is free of single-use plastics and has a waste recycling team.
And food miles and fuel use are reduced by using as many local suppliers as possible.
Katch added: “We are very lucky in that our festival audience are very responsible and as a result we are left with comparatively little waste.
“For the waste that does accrue we have a dedicated recycling and waste team that collect and divide up the waste for relevant disposal.”
Thousands of music lovers are expected at this year’s gathering for a diverse range of acts, including nine-piece Bristol band Cut Capers and Lyon-based four-piece Dowdelin.
Other performers to look out for include Saturday headliners Zentone (High Tone + Tenzile), Chile world music band Subhira Quintet and old favourites Sheelanagig.
This year is the 25th anniversary of the first event at Knockengorroch, with organisers urging music lovers to put on their finest silver gear to celebrate.
They will also be planting a copse of silver birch trees on Goose Island and are planning a new commemorative garden in the woods.
When it began in 1998, Knockengorroch was the first greenfield festival of its kind in Scotland, kicking off with the Ceilidh Gall Gallowa’ Festival.
Few people could have envisioned then what it would become a quarter of a century later.
Katch said: “We started with a few hundred people in a field. Our growth was slow, steady and largely through word of mouth.
“The natural growth of the event proved that there was something here that people wanted.
“When we began we were really the only ‘eclectic’ Glastonbury-style event in Scotland.
“Obviously the festival landscape in Scotland today is vastly different, with quality events every weekend of the summer.
“That we are still around today amongst all the other, newer festivals is testimony to the fact that people want to come to Knockengorroch.
“We are delighted that we are here but also we want to take this moment to think hard about what we want to do and where we want to be in 25 years’ time.
Tickets for this year’s festival, running from May 25 to 28, are available from www.knockengorroch.org.uk
Festival pictures courtesy of Douglas Robertson, Stevie Powers, Graham Wynne, Recompose and Martin McCarthy.
