Latest news with #KyleFalconer
The Herald Scotland
12-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Herald Scotland
BBC Scotland cuts coverage of Edinburgh's festivals
It will be staging only five days of events with ticketed audiences after deciding to share space with the Pleasance Courtyard and the EICC. Stand-up comedian Mark Nelson will also be returning with a festivals highlights programme, Edinburgh Unlocked, for the BBC Scotland channel. Read more: More than 100 shows have recorded or broadcast live across at least two weeks by the BBC since it started running its own pop-up venue during the summer festivals in 2011. The line-up had gradually expanded to include programmes for the UK radio network, the BBC Scotland TV channel and Radio Scotland, the iPlayer and the BBC Sounds platform. BBC Scotland is based at Pacific Quay in Glasgow. (Image: Newsquest) The BBC's pop-up venue drew thousands of ticket-holders to the visitor attraction Dynamic Earth every day during the 2023 and 2024 festivals. Special guests included singer-songwriters Kyle Falconer, Richard Jobson and Tom Robinson, authors Denise Mina, Ian Rankin, Val McDermid and Andrew O'Hagan, actors Brian Cox, Jack Docherty and Miriam Margolyes, comics Connor Burns, Frank Skinner and Susie McCabe, and theatre-makers Cora Bissett, Kieran Hurley and Gary McNair. The BBC's pop-up venue was previously set up in the grounds of George Heriot's School, and at sites at Potterrow and High School Yards. Stars who appeared in shows included comics Paul Merton, Nicholas Parsons, Tim Vine, Lucy Porter, Susan Calman and Russell Kane, writers Jackie Kay, Louise Welsh, Stig Abell and Alexander McCall Smith, and singer-songwriters Edwyn Collins and Rachel Sermanni. The cuts in coverage of the Edinburgh festivals, which have emerged a few months into the tenure of new BBC Scotland director Hayley Valentine. A spokesperson for the BBC said: "The BBC will return to the Edinburgh festivals with shows coming from the EICC and the Pleasance Courtyard between August 4 and 8. "Our coverage will include ticketed events for audiences to attend recordings and live broadcasts of BBC Radio Scotland and BBC Radio 4 shows. "Edinburgh Unlocked presented by Mark Nelson will also return to the BBC Scotland channel, giving audiences a backstage pass to all the best of the Fringe and the wider festivals. "We will also continue to provide special reports from the Edinburgh festivals across news tv, radio and online throughout August. "Details of our programming line-up will be announced in due course.' The scaling back of Edinburgh's festivals coverage has emerged following a number of recent controversies over the BBC's output in Scotland. There was anger last year over a shake-up in Radio Scotland's music programming and its impact on long-running specialist shows on jazz, classical music and piping. The BBC also came came under fire when it announced that its hour-long news programme The Nine would be scrapped just five years after its launch on a new BBC Scotland channel and replaced with a new early evening show, The Seven, which was launched in January. However fresh controversy erupted in March when the BBC announced that it would be bringing the long-running drama series River City to an end, with the budget for the show redirected towards three dramas. More than 12,000 supporters have backed a petition to save the show, while a politicians joined cast and crew to stage a protest outside the Scottish Parliament building at Holyrood. The BBC said the show, which has been on air since 2002 and is due to end in the autumn of 2026, was no longer offering "value for money." The BBC spokesperson added: "The BBC works within an increasingly competitive marketplace and tight budget constraints. "We have to make tough decisions to ensure we are delivering value for money which inevitably means evolving our offer accordingly whilst remaining committed to covering the Edinburgh festivals across all platforms."
Daily Record
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Record
Heartland Festival 2025 given the go-ahead by Perth and Kinross Council
Skerryvore and Kyle Falconer are among the acts due to perform at next month's festival in Pitlochry The organiser of Pitlochry's Heartland Festival dreams of it growing to become a "mini Glastonbury for Scotland". Ticket sales for this year's festival are up 40 per cent on last year's which - while generating £1.8 million for the local economy - is expected to operate at a loss for the second year running. Organiser Graham Howie had not planned on running the festival for a second year - after losing so much last year - but agreed after festival-goers pleaded for the "best festival" to be repeated. The festival director made the revelation as he presented the public entertainment licensing application for Heartland Festival 2025 to Perth and Kinross Licensing Committee on Monday, May 12. It is due to take place at Pitlochry's Recreation Ground from June 28 to 29. Skerryvore, Kyle Falconer, Torridon and Nathan Evans and the St Phx Band are among the headline acts due to perform. Councillors unanimously granted a public entertainment licence for this year's festival. But Cllr Keith Allan challenged Mr Howie on running the festival at a financial loss. Mr Howie said: "In years to come, I think there's a capacity there to bring the event up to 10,000 but if you go over that, you start to lose the community feel. "If you get the ticket pricing right, there's no reason that the festival could be profitable. We have a little advertising this year. We haven't been able to get a sponsor so that's one of my key tasks for August onwards to try and find someone who will sponsor us, without us losing our integrity. It's a difficult call but I believe it's achievable. "The ticketing is a very difficult balance. I priced the early bird tickets too cheaply last year. They were £34 for the weekend so we sold a lot - but it's come back to bite me now because the demand was clearly there. I think if we had sold them at £45/50 - bearing in mind that was half the price - we would have sold the same amount. "I want to keep the prices low as it is a family event but it is a commercial event. If I don't make money then I can't invest in it and grow it." Presenting the application to councillors, Heartland Festival Ltd owner Mr Howie said "the response from the community and the public was absolutely overwhelming" following last year's inaugural event. He added: "One of the biggest compliments we got was that 'it didn't feel like a first-time event, it felt like an event that had been running for years and years'. "I wasn't actually planning to do a second festival because I lost so much money on the first one but that's my loss and my loss to take. "It became clear from the response on Facebook and with emails from people asking if we wanted to do this again. We actually put a post on Facebook asking that very question and - within 20 minutes - we had 300 replies saying 'please run the festival again - it's the best festival we ever went to'. "It will still make a small loss this year but nothing like the amount of money that was lost the previous year. I'd hope that for 2026 and 2027 we'll be into a small profit and then be able to grow it accordingly in conjunction with normal business practices." He cited a Scottish Government document which showed "a benefit of £1.8 million coming into the local economy this year". He added: "Ticket sales for 2025 are 40 per cent up on 2024. We're now expecting in the region of 5000 people on Saturday and nearer 7000 on Sunday so it's a huge improvement on the previous year and shows the popularity of the event. "Support from the community is even higher in numbers and stronger than it was the previous year and I'm very grateful to all the volunteers that help us put on the event." The family-friendly festival is free to children under the age of 13. Teenagers are admitted half-price. There is even a dedicated children's area. There is no camping on site but this year there will be shuttle buses running to four local campsites - Grandtully Station Campsite, Aberfeldy Caravan Park, Faskally Caravan Park and Blair Castle Caravan Park. In addition, there will be a link-up with FlixBus and Citylink which connect the Highland Perthshire village to Scotland's major cities. The festival will finish an hour earlier at 10pm - rather than 11pm - to "minimise disturbance" and allow revellers to leave by bus. The festival's exclusively all-Scottish line-up may however move towards being "predominantly Scottish". Mr Howie said: "I don't know for how long we can keep it exclusively Scottish acts because we're starting to run out already but it will always be a predominantly Scottish act festival." New and unknown acts can gain exposure on the Discovery Stage. Heartland Festival will then promote two of the best Discovery Stage acts to the Main Stage. This year sees last year's Discovery Stage acts David Delinquent and the IOUs as well as Copper Lungs take to the Main Stage. In terms of refreshments, organisers have teamed up with local brewers Wasted Degrees as well as local food vendors and a local gin company. Councillors were assured a "robust traffic management plan" would be in place and - while there will be some traffic restrictions in place to allow traffic to flow - there will be "no road closures". The application received just one objection. A neighbouring resident - who lives 25 metres from the venue - raised concern about noise and disturbance. An Environmental Health officer - who was on site throughout last year's event - said there were "no breaches" and the team received "no complaints". She added: "I spoke to a number of neighbours round about and I think most of them were at the festival." Appealing to councillors to grant the licence, Mr Howie said: "I could take this to Stirling or to Dunfermline but Pitlochry is my home. "And I hope - with the continued support from the council and volunteers - that we can continue this festival and we can grow it into my dream to be a mini Glastonbury of Scotland for future. "I have done everything I possibly can to minimise disturbance to the local community because I am part of that local community. "If you were going to design a park area to put a festival on, the Recreation Ground is the perfect location." The committee's convener, Highland Perthshire councillor Mike Williamson moved the application for approval. It was seconded by vice-convener Iain MacPherson and unanimously approved by the committee.
The Courier
13-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Courier
Pitlochry's Heartland festival returns with Kyle Falconer and Skerryvore
The organiser of Pitlochry's Heartland Festival says he dreams of it growing to become a 'mini Glastonbury for Scotland'. This year's gathering on June 28-29 will feature acts such as Skerryvore and Kyle Falconer. Around 5,000 people are expected on the Saturday and 7,000 on the Sunday. And it's forecast to generate £1.8 million for the local economy. Heartland Festival 2025 will once again take place at Pitlochry's Recreation Ground. Organiser Graham Howie has admitted he didn't plan on bringing it back after he lost so much money on last year's event. It featured the likes of The View, Idlewild and Skerryvore. But he says he agreed to it after people pleaded for a repeat of the 'best festival' they'd ever been to. Mr Howie was speaking as he presented his application for a public entertainment licence to Perth and Kinross licensing committee on Monday. The Heartland Festival director told councillors the response from the community and the public to last year's event had been 'absolutely overwhelming'. 'I could take this to Stirling or to Dunfermline,' he added. 'But Pitlochry is my home. 'And I hope – with the continued support from the council and volunteers – that we can continue this festival and we can grow it into my dream to be a mini Glastonbury of Scotland for future.' There is no camping on site. But there will be shuttle buses running to four local campsites – Grandtully Station Campsite, Aberfeldy Caravan Park, Faskally Caravan Park and Blair Castle Caravan Park. In addition, there will be a link-up with FlixBus and Citylink, connecting the Highland Perthshire village to Scotland's major cities. The festival will finish an hour earlier at 10pm – rather than 11pm – to minimise disturbance and allow revellers to leave by bus. Councillors were assured a 'robust traffic management plan' will be in place. And while there will be some traffic restrictions in place there will be no road closures. The application received just one objection. A neighbour, who lives 25 metres from the venue, raised concerns about noise and disturbance. But an environmental health officer, who was on site throughout last year's event, said there were no breaches and the team received no complaints. She added: 'I spoke to a number of neighbours round about and I think most of them were at the festival.' The committee unanimously approved the application.
