Belladrum organisers Rob Hicks and Joe Gibbs offered festivalgoers a candid behind-the-scenes insight into the thinking and challenges behind the Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival during a special audience session at the 2010 event.
Both Rob Hicks and Joe Gibbs, organisers of the Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival, were brave enough to face the crowds in the Verb Garden at Belladrum in 2010. The session offered a rare opportunity for festivalgoers to hear directly from the people behind one of the Highlands’ most distinctive music festivals. The result was a particularly candid and entertaining glimpse into the realities of running an independent festival in the Scottish Highlands.
For around an hour, the pair entertained and charmed a partisan audience, blending humour with honesty as they fielded questions about Belladrum’s past, present and future. Even then, it was clear that the festival’s success depended on carefully balancing growth with the desire to preserve the character that had made Belladrum such a fixture in the Inverness live music calendar.
Protecting the scale of Belladrum
One of the key themes of the discussion was the size of the festival. Joe Gibbs reassured the audience that there were no plans to significantly increase Belladrum’s capacity beyond around 13,000 people. Expanding further, he suggested, could risk losing the intimacy and atmosphere that helped distinguish Belladrum from much larger UK festivals.
A suggestion from the audience that two separate festivals might be held on the same site drew a typically dry response, though it also highlighted the organisers’ awareness of Belladrum’s wider impact. The festival takes place on a working farm, and Hicks and Gibbs acknowledged the need to balance the demands of a growing event with the realities of rural life and the surrounding community.
The rising cost of booking artists
The conversation also turned to the increasing cost of booking artists, an issue that was already affecting festivals across the UK in 2010. Hicks and Gibbs discussed how independent festivals like Belladrum often face challenges competing with larger events that can afford exclusivity deals with major acts.
While no firm decisions were announced at the time, possible measures such as modest ticket price increases or introducing charges for children were mentioned as ways festivals might have to respond to rising talent fees in the future.
Belladrum and the fringe culture
Another interesting topic was Belladrum’s relationship with fringe events that take place around the festival. Hicks and Gibbs made it clear that these events were not officially organised by Belladrum itself. While Joe Gibbs encouraged the idea of a thriving fringe culture around the festival, he stressed that such events would remain independent, inviting others to take the lead if they wished to see a fringe scene develop.
A lighter moment came when the organisers addressed Badly Drawn Boy’s much-discussed performance and his comments about sound quality at the festival. In a relaxed and humorous exchange, Hicks and Gibbs explained that despite the headlines, the artist left Belladrum smiling and with a promise that he would return in the future.
Relationships with artists
Joe Gibbs also spoke openly about the realities of artist booking and how Belladrum’s strength often lies in its relationships with performers. Larger festivals may secure exclusivity deals, but Belladrum has benefited from artists who genuinely enjoy returning to the Highlands.
Acts such as Scouting for Girls and Amy Macdonald were cited as examples of performers whose loyalty to Belladrum had helped shape the festival’s identity over the years. The organisers also mentioned emerging artists they believed could break through, highlighting Tiffany Page and Kassidy as acts to watch at the time.
Headliners and future ambitions
When the conversation turned to potential headline acts, Hicks and Gibbs discussed the challenge of booking major names without altering the festival’s dynamic. Bringing in acts that are too large can sometimes shift the balance of the audience, with fans attending purely for one artist rather than embracing the wider festival atmosphere.
One example discussed was the possibility of Biffy Clyro returning to Belladrum. Hicks suggested it would be fantastic to welcome them back, though if it happened it might follow a similar approach to KT Tunstall’s memorable appearance, where the performance was not formally announced in advance.
Mumford & Sons were also mentioned during the discussion. Hicks expressed confidence that the band would eventually return to Belladrum, though their rising popularity at the time meant such a booking was unlikely in the immediate future.
Hicks was equally guarded when discussing Loopallu, the festival’s sister event in Ullapool. No hints were given about upcoming headliners, though he did confirm that an announcement would be made on 3 September.
Two further names were floated as potential future bookings. Joe Gibbs spoke enthusiastically about Cosmic Sausage, describing them as a high-energy party band well suited to the Belladrum atmosphere, while Hicks mentioned the Manic Street Preachers as an act he would love to see appear at the festival.
Conclusion
Looking back, this audience session at Belladrum 2010 offered a fascinating snapshot of how the festival’s organisers approached the challenges of building a successful independent music festival in the Highlands. Many of the issues discussed that day, from rising artist fees to preserving the festival’s atmosphere, remain central to the wider conversation about live music in Scotland today.
For followers of the Inverness and Highland music scene, moments like this underline why Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival has remained one of Scotland’s most distinctive and enduring grassroots festivals.
