BURN BABY BURN
Images from the Wickerman music festival in Dumfries & Galloway
There’s something special about the Wickerman festival, and I can’t quite put my finger on what it is. There’s just something in the air. Perhaps it’s because it hasn’t followed the path of many larger, mainstream music festivals. This is no T in the Park; this is a place for families, for friends and for summertime fun. You feel welcome here.
The festival is hosted annually at East Kirkcarswell, a working farm near Dundrennan in Dumfries and Galloway, and attracts music lovers from across the UK. These include many loyal fans who attend the festival every year and make a point of getting together with old friends to spend a few nights under canvas and see an incredibly diverse range of musical talent.
Travelling to the festival through gently rolling, fertile farmland you can feel the excitement building and the electricity in the atmosphere grow as you near the site and catch your first glimpse of the wickerman himself.
Standing around 30ft tall, the wicker structure is created by local craftsmen Trevor Leat and Alex Rigg, taking a different form each year to preside over the weekend’s proceedings. The statue even bears witness to the nuptials of a lucky couple at the Wicker wedding, a legal ceremony conducted at the feet of the giant and followed by a festival wedding reception featuring some substantially better than average wedding bands.
This July will see festival goers gather together for the 14th time. The line-up is topped by the Waterboys and Tom Odell, who will headline the main Summerisle Stage. Squeeze, Example, DJ Wire, Lulu, John Cooper Clarke, Jimmy Cliff, Neneh Cherry, Sugarhill Gang, The Sonics and Stereo MCs will also be playing over the two days. There’s also a children’s arena, many tents full of music, a fun fair and some fabulous food to be enjoyed.
The festivities climax at midnight on the Saturday evening with the spectacular burning of the wickerman. As the flames lick up his sturdy thighs and engulf his gigantic frame, the faces of festival goers are illuminated in the glow and their smiles in the darkness speak volumes.