Join the party as Mull Music Festival makes welcome return
Tobermory welcomes Mull Music Festival back today (Thursday April 21) for four days of trad tunes and more, following a four-year gap.
Festival organiser Neil Morrison is expecting about 2,000 people to rock up over the weekend ready to roll.
Live music will be hosted at most of the pubs in town as well as the Park Lodge Hotel, with a satellite stage out at The Bellachroy Hotel in Dervaig.
Festival timings will be fluid, with postings of gigs going up on Mull Music Festival’s Facebook page, says Neil who owns Macgochan’s on the waterfront.
Four years ago a fire gutted Macgochan’s cancelling plans for that year’s festival – Covid put a stop to the last three.
‘This is our first attempt after four very long years without a festival. It’s a no-ticketed event so people can just turn up, mosey around all the different venues and enjoy live music what’s not to like! It’s going to be a packed weekend and so is Tobermory, so that’s great for local businesses.
‘Traditionally the music festival starts the season off and the car rally ends it, although our season is getting longer now.
‘There’ll be lots of traditional music because that’s very popular, but there will be some covers later on as well.
‘We get all sorts of people coming along, we’ve had cruise ships rock up before and we’ve had pensioners dancing in the car park,’ said Neil.
The Laurettes, Rock & Reel, Chunks, Atlantic Reel, and Gunna Sound are just some of the bands on the bill.
Anyone looking for a last-minute bed should check out the Mull Accommodation website.
New traffic restrictions have now been brought in by Argyll and Bute Council stopping motorhomes driving down the main street. Concerns had been raised about vans and campers parking too close to each other in Ledaig car park.
Angus Williams who runs Tobermory Campsite said this was the first time his site had been ‘full to bursting’ for Mull Music Festival.
‘People have desperately been looking for places to camp. They don’t like paying, it was free down at the car park but it was dangerous, they were all far too close. If I followed how it’s been at the car park these past years I’d fit 60 camper vans in here – as it is I’ve got about 28 and I’m full to bursting. This is the first time it’s been like this for the festival.’