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It’s a little over 4 weeks til this year’s Belladrum Festival. (We’ve started to do sun dances already!) Always one to try something a little different, yesterday saw Bella release details of their attempts to lower their carbon footprint at this year’s festival, by recycling up to 5 tonnes of food waste.
The Green Dream Machine will clock up another first at this year’s festival by collecting up to 5 tonnes of food waste. Not only will this reduce the festival’s land-fill but the food waste will be converted into a high quality compost.
The Green Dream Machine was formed by volunteers at Belladrum in 2006 and have gone on to create a range of projects to reduce waste and promote recycling at outdoor events – a new project is currently being designed and will be unveiled at this year’s Belladrum.
“Compost Corner” as it has been dubbed is a simple system and will be managed by Bella’s own green champion and GDM volunteer, Catriona MacLeod. Catriona explained, “This year we will have dedicated wheelie bins and skips for all the caterers’ food waste. This waste will be taken off-site to a nearby in-vessel composter and within a few weeks this waste will be converted into a rich, high quality compost.”
In these days of climate change and global warming, it’s good to see a festival taking such a innovative approach – if Bella expects to save 5 tonnes from going to landfill, how much could this weekend’s T in the Park save?
Belladrum 2009 takes place in the beautiful Highland surroundings of Belladrum Estate, near Beauly in Inverness-shire. The independent festival has built a reputation for its eclectic line-ups, its off-beat non-musical entertainments and its all-ages approach. Capacity will remain what it was in 2008 at 12,000. At the UK Festival Awards Ceremony in October – the festival industry’s ‘oscars’ – Bella was awarded the Grassroots Festival Award.
Award-winning Belladrum has announced headliners Editors and Ocean Colour Scene plus a raft of other acts including: The Saw Doctors; Shed Seven; British Sea Power; Seth Lakeman; Alabama 3; Sons & Daughters; Glen Tilbrook & The Fluffers; The Peatbog Faeries; Lau; Toploader; Treacherous Orchestra; Transglobal Underground; Tommy Reilly; De Votchka; The Phantom Band; 3 Daft Monkeys; Edward II; The Wallbirds; Kid Carpet; Sam Isaac; Broken Records; Magistrates; Healthy Minds Collapse; Sparrow & The Workshop; The Lost Brothers; and Scooty & The Skyhooks.
Of course, Belladrum isn’t simply about the music. This year sees another first, with the introduction of Sweaty Bella, a mountain bike race on the Saturday morning, which is open to festival ticket holders only – buy your entry ticket along with your festival ticket!
If that sounds too energetic then there is plenty more on offer, from debates and writing workshops to the world’s number one Billy Connolly tribute act, Silly Connoly.
There’s also plenty for the kids at Belladrum, making it one of the most family friendly festivals around. From facepainting to kids theatre, there’s somthing for everyone, including a visit from Mr Boom!
Tickets for this year’s Bella are available now from www.thebooth.co.uk
