Speyfest reveals line-up for reboot of event to mark its 25th birthday

Speyfest was first staged in Fochabers, in Moray, in 1995.

One of Scotland's longest-running music festivals has announced plans for a comeback to celebrate its 25th anniversary.

Speyfest will be staged in Fochabers, in Moray, for the first time in three years when its much-loved “tented village” returns to the banks of the River Spey.

The Red Hot Chilli Pipers, Skerryvore, Elephant Sessions and Rura will be among the leading the Scottish trad and Celtic bands appearing at the three-day event in July.

Concerts, ceilidhs, sessions, a craft fair, a food and drink fair, children’s activities and a Church service will all be part of the rebooted festival’s programme, which also feature music and singing workshops for people of all ages.

The festival, which has had to delay its 25th birthday party by two years due to the pandemic, started out in a small tent for just 300 people in 1995 but has grown to boast a site capacity of 1500 in recent years.

Other acts confirmed for the 2022 line-up include musical double acts Anna Massie and Mairearad Green, and Aly Bain & Phil Cunningham, fiddler Bruce Macgregor, singer Claire Hastings and local favourites James Alexander, Tour Bus Fortune, and Colin Campbell.

Speyfest is one of many Scottish music festivals forced to pull the plug in 2020 and 2021 due to the impact of Covid restrictions.

Others due to return next year include the Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival, in Beauly, near Inverness, the Shetland and Orkney folk festivals, Skye Live and the Eilean Dorcha Festival, in Benbecula.

Speyfest is due to return to Fochabers in July of next year.

The Hebridean Celtic Festival, on the Isle of Lewis, which went ahead in a scaled-back hybrid form earlier this year, is also planned to return with a full programme.

An announcecment about the return of Speyfest said: “Hosted in the event’s pop-up tented village by the picturesque banks of the River Spey, Speyfest will transform Fochabers into a haven of music and culture in July.

“With a limited number of early bird tickets on sale now, the Celtic music festival makes a

welcome return after plans for the 2020 and 2021 editions were put on hold due to the pandemic.”