Launching Heather on the Hill in August was madcap - but it worked

There may be thousands of shows and events in full swing across Edinburgh city centre, but I have left its familiar hustle and bustle behind for a major new addition to the capital’s offering.

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Launching a new festival in a city with a cultural programme which already attracts a four million-strong audience felt like a completely madcap idea when it was announced last November given the existing competition for ticket sales in the city in August.

I had almost forgotten that Heather on the Hill was being launched during the long build-up to Edinburgh’s long-established summer events and their takeover of the city centre for the best part of a month.

Children of all ages were welcome at the new Heather on the Hill music festival at the Royal Highland Centre in Edinburgh. (Image: DF Concerts)

The last few months have also seen countless Scottish music festivals either cancelled or postponed in the face of poorer-than-expected ticket sales.

I was somewhat astonished to discover, the day before setting off for Heather on the Hill, that its first edition was actually a 26,000 capacity sell-out, quite an achievement given the relatively untried format of the festival.

Heather on the Hill was pitched very firmly towards families when it was announced for the home of the Royal Highland Show at Ingliston, near Edinburgh Airport.

The one-day event was billed as “a festival for all of the family” which was aiming to become “a highlight of the Scottish summer”.

The prospect of “a full festival experience in a relaxed, friendly and family-first environment” was one intriguing selling point.

Another was that the event was described as the creation of Nathan Evans and The Saint Phnx Band, the acclaimed collaboration which opened and closed the one-day event.

In reality, Heather on the Hill was the latest innovation from long-running concert promoters DF Concerts, the firm best known for staging T in the Park for 22 years at Strathclyde Country Park and Balado airfield and - since 2017 - the TRNSMT festival on Glasgow Green.

The new Edinburgh festival was also a significant new declaration of intent from the Royal Highland Centre, which is currently hosting its biggest ever series of the Edinburgh Summer Sessions shows which are staged by DF.

The launch announcement for Heather on the Hill promised “the magic of a full festival experience in a relaxed, friendly and family-first environment”.

Any lingering doubts I had about whether the concept of “a family-focused” festival would work on such a scale had been dispelled within an hour of my arrival on Saturday afternoon, when it seemed as if most of those 26,000 ticketholders had turned out to see singer-songwriter Cammy Barnes perform before what surely must have been his biggest ever audience.

Picnic blankets were stretched out the full length of the main arena while dozens of youngsters hoisted onto shoulders in front of the stage already appeared to be having the time of their lives.

So do island music festival favourites The Laurettes and Jarad Rowan as they effortlessly recreated the party atmosphere found at the annual gatherings in Skye, Mull, Tiree and Lewis over the summer.

Despite being at the other end of the festival site to the main stage, I could not get anywhere near the DJ stage for George Bowie’s set due to the vast crowd which had descended on the lochside location, not far from where The Singing Kettle star Artie Fisher had just been holding court inside the “Happy Wee Place” tent.

Elsewhere, I encountered a conga line of parents and their children emerging from a silent disco, as well as a storytelling session, a ceilidh dance class, entertainers on stilts, a circus skills workshop and a chill-out tent where “laughing yoga” was on offer.

Intrigued by the number of prams and buggies I encountered, I discovered that the only age restriction in place at Heather on the Hill is that anyone 15 years old or under had to be accompanied by an adult.

But the number of children and teenagers in attendance seemed to enhance, rather than dilute, the atmosphere throughout a day which, from my experience, was refreshingly aggro-free.

It was inspiring to think that Heather on the Hill would have been not only the first festival experience for many of the young folk in attendance, but also their first encounter with live music and – thanks to acts like Cammy Barnes and Skerryvore – traditional instruments like the bagpipes and accordion.

By the end of the night, as mobile phone torches lit up the arena and fireworks soared above Ethans on the main stage, I also wondered how many of these young folk will have already been inspired to think about learning an instrument for themselves.

A key factor in the undoubted success of Heather on the Hill was the site at Ingliston, which has an impressive amount of infrastructure and permanent facilities in place year-round.

Easy to access by tram and bus from the city centre, the Heather on the Hill site is also within easy reach of Fife, West Lothian, Lanarkshire, Glasgow and beyond.

The widespread availability of parking is also a sharp contrast with the historic heart of the capital, where the vast majority of Edinburgh’s summer festivals activity is concentrated.

While many elements of Edinburgh’s long-running festivals run children’s programmes and welcome school trips, the blunt truth about the city centre in August is that for many people it simply feels overcrowded and overwhelming.

Rather than providing competition for the array of events being staged in Edinburgh, Heather on the Hill significantly enhanced the city’s cultural offer in its first edition, with a second already confirmed for next August.