ONE of Scotland's best-loved music festivals is at the centre of a row over the treatment of stalwart members of the organising team, who it is claimed have been forced out.
Wickerman, the award-winning festival that started 12 years ago as a local event attracting just 1,500 paying music lovers, inspired by the cult 1970s film of the same name, has been rocked by allegations that those who helped make it one of the premier events on Scotland's calendar have been poorly treated.
This year the festival attracted more than 12,000 people and featured artists such as Dizzee Rascal and Del Amitri.
The latest to leave is Chay Woodman, organiser and promoter of the renowned Solus tent established to champion new Scottish music talent at the festival. He says he was upset after learning the festival board had registered the Solus name as its intellectual property without discussion with him.
He sought later to withdraw his resignation so he could organise the Solus tent's 10th anniversary next year, with the support of testimonies from bands who played in it. But he says the board would not accept it.
Scott Hutchinson, lead singer of Frightened Rabbit, had said the Solus tent held "a special place in our memory" and started the band "on a path that would end up taking us to festivals across the globe."
He added: "When nobody else wanted to book our band, Chay did, and that meant a lot. New bands need stages like this, not only to hone their act a little but to be involved in something that maintains a community spirit - something every festival should have."
Bands have raised their concern about the departure of Mr Woodman, whose Solus tent became the platform for a host of Scots bands such as the award-winning Django Django, Young Fathers and We Were Promised Jetpacks.
Louie Louie Louie, frontman of Hector Bizerk, responded to the move saying: "Wickerman's loss is everyone else's gain."
Mr Woodman said: "They just didn't want me back. No dialogue, just along the lines of 'we accept your resignation, thank you for your work, good luck for the future'.
"If they ignore what the Scottish music community says then there's something clearly amiss."
Sid Ambrose, one of the founders of Wickerman, has now revealed that he quit three years due to "irreconcilable differences" around the selection of acts and "how the audience were treated". He said it was with "great sadness that I heard that Chay Woodman was the latest to fall out from the Wickerman ranks. It seems to me that Wickerman does not invest in its people and ultimately these highly skilled individuals will be head-hunted by other events."
Adam Curtis, who was also involved at the festival's infancy growing out of the Stewarty Music Initiative, a council-funded youth project, said he was puzzled that landowner Jamie Gilroy, whose farm in Dumfriesshire is host to the festival, proclaims himself wrongly as co-founder and claims those who originally set up the festival have used it as a "stepping stone".
A Wickerman spokeswoman insisted Mr Woodman was considered a "valued and longstanding part of the Wickerman Festival until his decision to resign last month".
She added: "His resignation email strongly stated that he didn't want to work with the festival any more and so it was accepted by the Wickerman team and we now wish him all the best for the future. As a result of Chay's decision, we are rethinking and planning the Solus Tent, which, like all Wickerman stages, has always been promoted as part of the overall festival.
"The Wickerman Festival has always taken place on Jamie Gilroy's farm and Jamie was part of the team that staged the first year of the event and he has taken it forward each year since. He has always acknowledged the many partners and collaborators, past and present, who have worked hard to make Wickerman the successful event it is today."
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