Zipline adds to Belladrum buzz

Next month’s Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival will boast a number of exciting new features – including a wire zipline that allows revellers to take in the scenic surroundings from the air.

Believed to be a festival first in Scotland, the 490ftlong wire will carry people from a high point down across a burn and over tepees before safely landing in a small wooded “dell” area.

A New Orleans-themed jazz and blues bar, located beside the take-off point, is another new attraction this year.

Festival organiser Joe Gibbs has assured people that there will be an improved traffic management plan in place following major congestion a year ago, when the festival’s clash with the Black Isle Show resulted in massive tailbacks along key routes.

Campsites, parking areas and the main arena will open four hours earlier, extra entrances have been built and a new shuttle bus service will be put on by Stagecoach to convey people between Belladrum and the Black Isle Show.

Belladrum will take place from August 4 to 6 and coincides with the annual agricultural event on August 4.

Mr Gibbs said: “We had a number of delays last year and have been working constantly since then with the Black Isle Show organisers, Highland Council and Police Scotland to come up with ways to improve that. What would be tremendously helpful is if people could arrive early rather than at rush hour, which has been the case in the past.”

There will also be a group of chauffeurs on hand for a small fee to help anyone struggling to carry bags and tents to the campsite.

Belladrum will have a 490ft zipline for revellers