HANDS ACROSS THE SEA HELP HEB CELT ORGANISERS
News Release
Hebridean Celtic Festival
Year of Creative Scotland 2012
• International volunteers help Celtic event
• Overseas visitors to go behind the scenes at festival
• First time fans add to family atmosphere
Music fans from 19 different countries are on their way to next week’s Hebridean Celtic Festival – and many are ready to go to work to ensure the award-winning event runs smoothly.
The event, based in Stornoway in the isle of Lewis, hopes to at least match last year’s attendance of 14,500 despite economic difficulties which have affected other festivals.
Already visitors from Algeria, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Romania, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand and the US have booked to attend, as well as many from across the UK.
The overseas visitors will help swell the ranks of the 120-strong volunteer army which works behind the scenes to ensure HebCelt goes to plan.
Last year some 60 per cent of the volunteers came from outside Lewis and contributed over 3,500 unpaid man hours over the course of the four-day festival which runs from 11-14 July and will be headlined by The Waterboys, The Proclaimers and Kassidy.
Among the visiting contingent will be the Rabb family from Durham, North Carolina, who discovered HebCelt on the internet last year while planning a holiday to Scotland.
Merry (correct), 55, her husband Rob, 56, and their son Cameron, 17, will use a plane, train, car, bus and ferry to travel to Stornoway.
Merry said: “When I mentioned the festival my husband and son were enthusiastic about the idea of attending. My husband then suggested volunteering as a way to be more involved and meet more people.”
Another first time visitor will be Alois Gschwari, 60, a retired petrol station owner from St. Johann in Tirol, Austria. He will join his son Andreas, 35, a computer game designer based in Uppsala, Sweden, who is making his ninth trip to HebCelt and his fifth as a volunteer.
Andreas said his first visit to HebCelt was “one of the best experiences of my life” and he has been going ever since: “Knowing my dad, he will feel the same and he'll become a repeat volunteer as well.”
Getting to Stornoway will involve over 20 hours travelling with both flying to London on the Saturday before the festival and then taking the train to Edinburgh before driving to Ullapool to catch the ferry over the Minch.
Andreas added: “I feel I have family in the Hebrides now. There are a few people who volunteer at the festival every year and they have become like family. It is one of the reasons I keep going back and I want to introduce my dad to it.
“As volunteers we don’t get paid but who needs money when you get to work with amazing people, see the stunning scenery, listen to beautiful music and be part of something as brilliant as the HebCelt?”
Among the many locals helping out are family groups, including those of festival director Caroline MacLennan and her brother in law, technical director Murdo MacLennan who is also chairman of the Festival Trust.
Caroline’s daughter Eileen works in the festival shop with sisters Michelle and Marsaili Shields and Murdo's brother Kenny also lead the site build team.
Caroline said: “I guess it’s the way of things in a small place. Inevitably you pull in people you know and can rely on but as we have gone through the years that 'family' circle has long outgrown blood relations.
“For our visiting volunteers it is a great way to enjoy the festival but also to get to know the place and the people a bit better.”
As HebCelt’s popularity continues, an appeal has gone out to people in Lewis and Harris to help accommodate visitors with hotel and guest house beds already at a premium.
For more information contact
John Ross
Lucid PR Events and Marketing
01463 724593; 07730 099617
johnross@lucidmessages.com
NOTES TO EDITORS
1. The 17th HebCelt takes place between 11th and 14th July 2012 and will, for the second year running, have two main stages on the Castle Green in front of the Lews Castle in Stornoway, as well as performances in An Lanntair and throughout the rural community.
2. This year it has been selected for the second year in succession as one of the top 10 UK summer festivals by music magazine Songlines. It emerged victorious as Best Large Festival at the industry-sponsored Scottish Event Awards 2011, in a three-way final with Edinburgh’s Hogmanay and Glasgow’s Celtic Connections.
3. HebCelt injects more than £1.5 million annually into the local economy.
4. It is regarded by critics, performers and festival-goers as one of the top Celtic music festivals in Europe.
5. The festival is made possible through the support of funders, advertisers and a vital and large volunteer workforce- http://www.hebceltfest.com/backstage/sponsors. It relies on scores of volunteer workers who clock up over 3,500 unpaid hours during the event.
6. HebCelt has twice won the Best Event of the Year award at the MG Alba Scots Trad Music Awards, which is voted for by the public.
7. HebCelt has been hailed as one of the UK’s top 50 festivals by the Daily Telegraph and one of the top five by The Scotsman.
8. A large quantity of children under 14 can attend concerts at the Festival Arena each night for free if accompanied by someone who is 18 or older.
9. This year’s headliners are The Waterboys, The Proclaimers and Kassidy. Other artists appearing include Julie Fowlis, Skerryvore, Admiral Fallow, Roddy Woomble, Niteworks, Mànran and Larkin Poe.
10 HebCelt has its own YouTube channel, Facebook and Twitter outlets.
http://www.youtube.com/user/hebceltfest
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Hebridean-Celtic-Festival/70400006768?ref=ts
http://twitter.com/#!/hebcelt/
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