Peat & Diesel’s ‘Boydie’ joins festival-goers at Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival
The beauty of the Belladrum Festival is that you never know who you will encounter.
As thousands of festival-goers milled around, Peat & Diesel frontman Callum ‘Boydie’ MacLeod was sitting on the grass enjoying a quiet beer in the late afternoon sun.
Belladrum Queen of Hearts feels the love
As he chatted about his journey to the festival site near Beauly - a 5am ferry journey and a lift with friends in a van which was “a bit of a squeeze” - it didn’t take long before fans spotted his presence.
Such is the phenomenal global success of Peat & Diesel, the Stornoway trio known for its own unique style of Celtic punk and rock.
As fans approached with requests for photographs including one from a lady wanting to win a bet with a friend to be snapped with the most famous person in 30 years, the affable Boydie happily obliged to their sheer delight.
Peat & Diesel has previously performed at Belladrum three times and although the band is not appearing this year, Boydie was on the Garden Stage with The Laurettes, an all-female Scottish indie folk Fusion band with a Celtic rock twist.
His early start for the journey, setting up his tent and catching up with folk had left little time on day one for him to catch up with the festival’s bigger acts - although he was intending to go for a wander around the site’s stages last night.
And it seemed he could have found inspiration for the band’s next song - mesmerised by the shorthand notes of the impromptu interview, Boydie created a quirky short film of several pages and sent them to his band mates!
Also mingling with the friendly crowds was festival site owner Joe Gibbs who was on his own mission, filming vox pops.
“I have been going around talking to a lot of people about their feelings on Belladrum,” he said.
“There are all sorts of people of different ages from all over the place as far away as New Zealand and Amsterdam.
“It has been a big thumbs up for this production of Belladrum. There is huge support for the event which is being produced this year.
“Everyone is thrilled to be here which supports my view that the organisers have done a fantastic job.
“The site is full of interesting original artwork and lots of great things and a lot of families are really enjoying themselves.”
From a personal perspective, he had also achieved a long-held ambition to see Teenage Fanclub perform at Belladrum.
Last night, saw Jake Bugg perform on the Garden Stage while James Arthur appeared on the Hothouse Stage where earlier Toyah Willcox had thrilled the audience.
Away from the music, there were many other activities to choose from.
In the Venus Fly Trap Palais, a bout of wrestling took place - of the style those of a certain generation will be familiar with from Saturday afternoon TV viewing.
With their athletic leaps and sense of drama, they had the audience in a frenzy cheering for their favourite and booing for the villain.
At the Bella Bar stage, funk band, the Retrophones, had the crowd dancing to up-tempo nembers.
Those looking for a more leisurely pace headed to the Verb Garden where Scottish novelist Chris Brookmyre enthralled the audience during a Q&A session.
Festival attire is becoming ever-more flamboyant by the day - from a guy strolling around in a flowing Roman toga to 60s-style psychedelia in abundance.
As the third and final day dawns, there is much for festival-goers to pack in with headliners including Deacon Blue, Callum Beattie, Twin Atlantic and King Creosote.
Also one to look out for is the Elsie Normington Foundation’s community development officer Rona Matheson who will appear live on the Hothouse stage with Col Mustard and the Dijon 5 at 5.10pm.
The foundation - which is behind the Inverness-based pioneering Haven Centre for young people with complex needs - is the nominated charity for this year’s Belladrum Festival.
Rona, who hopes to take along some special guests, said: “We are delighted to be given this opportunity to appear live onstage with Bella favourites Col Mustard and the Dijon 5 on the final day of the festival to promote the amazing work our charity does.
“This will really help raise awareness about the work our charity does for the young disabled in Highland, we are truly grateful!”
