We are still here!

Apologies for the lack of blogging lately, due to other circumstances our blog has had to take a back seat ovet the past few months. However, we will be updating on a more regular basis from now on!

Our Facebook profile is set to be closed next week, but will be replaced by a brand new Fan Page! Fans will be updated with news of the latest and best events on sale at www.thebooth.co.uk.

If Twitter is more your thing, become a follow of thebooth to receive our latest tweets.

And of course we are still active on MySpace, the grandad of Social Networking sites.

If your prefer old fashioned email news, then sign up to receieve our e-flyers: sent on a regular basis, these will keep you informed of the latest news events on sale at thebooth.

Upgrades, Belladrum, Loopallu and lots more besides!

Well, after our mammoth upgrade, we finally seem to be getting back on track!

Last week saw A Pilgrimage take place. The lastest film festival offering from Tilda Swinton saw the ScreenMachine mobile cinema travel from Kinlochleven to Nairn, showing a variety of films en route. With most showing sold out on thebooth, here’s hoping it’s going to be a regular occurence!

And talking of sold out, the Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival sold out for the first time this year. The festival took place over the weekend, in a (mainly) sunny Belladrum Estate near Beauly. Early reports seem to suggest this was one of the best Bella’s yet, so remember and get your tickets early for next year – as it very well could be a sell out again!

Broken Records on the Garden (Main) Stage at Belladrum 2009

HI-Arts Read Bed Stage @ Belladrum 2009

At Belladrum, news broke that The View are to headline this years Loopallu festival, held in Ullapool (18/19 September). Other acts joining the Dundee band are: Neville Staple, The Lightning Seeds, The Dykeenies, Mumford and Sons, Kid British, Pearl and the Puppets, and of course no Loopy would be complete with The Family Mahone!

Robert Hicks, promoter behind both Belladrum and Loopallu says:

‘We’re over the moon landing another of Scotland’s biggest bands to headline one of its smallest festivals. Its further proof that our size and location are our two biggest selling points to these bands, rather than seeming them as hindrances. On the back of Belladrum selling out and leaving lots of fans wanting more we expect Loopallu to sell out even faster than normal.’

So you have been warned, get your Loopy tickets soon!

Earlier in the month of September, the annual Blas Festival takes place throughout the Highlands (4-12 September). The Blas Festival helps to celebrate the culture of traditional music and Gaelic in the Highlands of Scotland and puts on a varied programme of events each year.

So, it’s been a busy few weeks here at thebooth, and this looks like it’s only the beginning!

Downtime

Our website is currently having a long over due upgrade, so is down for a couple of days. So time is being well spent improving our social network pages and writing in our lovely blog.

A quick seach online brings up a multitude of Social Networking advice, on how best to optimise your sites to bring about the most benefit to your business. It would be quite easy to spend the two days of downtime simply reading all about the wonders of Web 2.0! However, that still doesn’t get the work done, although it certainly provides food for thought.

So for the next few hours, our Facebook and MySpace pages will themselves be getting an overhaul, in amongst all the Tweeting. We really want these social spaces to have more interaction and input from our fans and friends, so feel free to send us a message or 5 with suggestions, or what content you would like to see.

Another Rubbish Idea?

Belladrum Logo

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

Busy, busy, busy!

It’s been a busy week here at thebooth.co.uk!

‘A Pilgrimage’ , the latest Tilda Swinton and Mark Cousins film festival went on sale on Wednesday afternoon. Following on from the success of last years Ballerina Ballroom, A Pilgrimage will see the ScreenMachine mobile cinema travel from Birdge of Orchy to Nairn showing a variety of films en route, from 1st-9th August. Tickets are available for each showing, or buy a Pilgrim ticket and join the whole tour – complete with a chance to help pull the ScreenMachine! Tickets available from www.thebooth.co.uk or for more information see www.a-pilgrimage.org.

Away from the world of travelling cinema, we have been busy designing e-flyers promoting two upcoming festivals: The International Genealogy Festival at the Universty of Strathclyde, Glasgow (21-24 July) and the Guildtown Bluegrass Music Festival (31 July-3 August). Click on the links to view the flyers, and if you’d like a e-flyer designed for an event you are selling for on thebooth.co.uk, please get in touch!

So it’s now Friday afternoon, and we’re looking forward to a lovely relaxing weekend before antoher busy week next week!

Do let us know if you’ll be attending any of these events, or indeed any others we are selling for, we’d love to hear what you are looking forward to!