Mugstock to adopt old T in The Park site

Festival features homegrown talent

A fledging music festival is to adopt the former Perthshire home of T in the Park.

Mugstock, which launched in Mugdock Country Park near Strathblane in 2015, will be held next summer in the grounds of Strathallan Castle from July 31 to August 3.

T in the Park attracted mass crowds every year but festival organiser Geoff Ellis announced in July this year the extravaganza would not be returning.

Mugstock featured a large proportion of Scottish acts across many genres: Idlewild lead singer Roddy Woomble, Malcolm Middleton from Arab Strap, hip-hop outfit Stanley Odd, ska band Bombskare, Emma Pollock and Rachel Sermanni.

Although the small festival had a much smaller headcount than T in the Park, co-founders Alan Govan and Stuart Nelson see next summer as a great opportunity to continue showcasing homegrown talent.

Alan said: “It feels a bit like we’re Jack, we’ve just climbed the beanstalk and we’re in the giant’s house.”

“The small festivals have this sense of community that I felt the larger events did not – it’s about that same escape, being in another world but with that sense of safety.

“You feel like you can come out of the weekend feeling better than when you went into it.”

Alan conceived of the non-profit music event while at university with friend Stuart.

Both grew up playing in bands in small Scottish towns where they had to organise gigs themselves if they wanted to perform.

The festival’s following is modest - welcoming 1500 to one event - but both Alan and Stuart have noticed the same people returning annually, often families with children.

Alan continued: “We’ve spent a lot of time handpicking the very best stuff we can show you because there’s so much more talent than there is space for it to be seen.

“There’s more and more talent appearing while venues and festivals are shutting down, so it feels more vital that there are these spaces where they can go.”

The proposed campsite at Strathallan comes with a water system and fibre broadband, courtesy of T in the Park, and Stuart acknowledges such amenities increase the cost of outdoor festivals.

Stuart added: “It is far more expensive to put on outdoor events than ever before.

“Musicians are still very underpaid and while everyone seems to agree that festivals are a great idea, getting support for them is often very difficult.

“We’ve tried to help a lot of acts that probably wouldn’t get festival slots around this sort of size because we just see them as being really worthwhile.

“We’re feeling the crunch like everyone else, and as a result there’s a few festivals that have been left hanging and had to close down.”