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Posts Tagged ‘music festival’

Vacation In Scotland With A Difference

March 13th, 2010

The country of Scotland has some of the most glorious scenery in the U.K. making it the greatest vacation destination. Countless numbers of visitors to Scotland choose Edinburgh as their main destination, whereas others decide upon something a little different. The article below examines vacations in Scotland and some of the things to do when in Scotland. The article also examines the Wickerman Festival.

With such a diverse countryside the list of things to do is endless. Mountain climbing is tremendously popular, as are mountain biking vacations. The most popular vacations are fishing or golf. With Scotland being the place of origin of golfing it should not be surprising that you are hardly ever too far from a minimum of one excellent golf course. With the Rivers Tay, Tweed and Spey you almost guaranteed of an incredible days fishing. But what if you fancy something a little different?

A growing number of families are making music festivals their annual vacation. Even though most music festivals are incredibly large with a focus upon making money, you can find a small selection of family music festivals, such as the Wickerman Festival and Tartan Heart.

The Wickerman Festival is an annual music and arts festival is held on a farm close to Dundrennan in Dumfries and Galloway about 5m away from the town of Kirkcudbright in Scotland. The event celebrates the cult classic British film, “The Wicker Man” which the stars Sir Christopher Lee, Edward Woodward, Diane Cilento, Britt Ekland and Ingrid Pitt.

The very first festival was held in the month of July 2002 and was organized by local guy, Sid Ambrose. With no experience of putting together a very large event it is a surprise that it is still held today, especially when you think about the present economic climate. Wickerman has changed each year and, like the film, has a cult following.

Wickerman is hugely family friendly it features many activities for children including, a mountain biking trail, a fairground, workshops and face painting. This can be easily proven by by visiting a search engine and searching for Wickerman Festival photographs 2009 or simply visit the official Wickerman Festival Gallery.

Near to the festival site is the small village of Kirkudbright where you will find many of the locations used in the film including Harbour Cottage which was used for the bakery and High Street Gallery which was used for the post office and sweetshop. You will find that there are a great many places worth visiting in the region and it is well worth having a short vacation here so that you can visit all of the visitor attractions. Common places in which to stay include Castle Douglas and Dumfries. Bed and breakfast accommodation in Scotland is nearly always first class and is also priced very reasonably and less costly than staying in a hotel.

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Tags: destination destinations holiday holidays leisure music music festival scotland travel Travel and leisure Travel tips UK vacation vacations

Reconnecting With The Lilith Fair

February 3rd, 2010

As one of the quintessential nineties concerts, the Lilith Fair made quite a splash when it debuted in 1997. Created by Canadian musician Sarah McLachlan, it was the first summer festival to focus on female musicians. Most concerts up until that point had refused to let more than two female acts perform in a row. Thanks to the massive success of the tour, people still remember it vividly. Now, in the summer of 2010, concert goers will once again take part as the Lilith Fair gets set for a revival tour.

Tracy Chapman, Fiona Apple, Joan Osmond and Lisa Loeb were just some of the stars who headlined the original tour. It’s no surprise that it was the highest grossing festival that year. Although the 2010 revival tour acts have yet to be confirmed, it wouldn’t be shocking to see current musicians such as KT Tunstall and Colbie Cailla take to the stage.

This festival, in particular, gained a reputation for having a real community vibe. While most summer concerts are filled with rowdy crowd members, pushing and shoving their way toward the front, this was another story. Not only were audience members polite, but they genuinely interacted with each other. It was common to see someone pull out a Takamine acoustic guitar and break into song. This is why many enjoyed it so much.

There are a lot negative stereotypes still floating around regarding the tour. Some people called it ‘Girlapalooza’ and others used even worse names. Probably because it was something new and different, people just didn’t understand it. Many just assumed the festival would be filled with women stepping off motorcycles with a black helmet in hand. At was very much not the case.

The tour not only made its impact musically, but there was many a fashion trend spotted and started on the festival grounds. Many attended with the idea that people were watching in mind. In fact, it’s more likely that many the audience would be wearing their best eye cream as opposed to sporting a biker jacket.

Those who were unable to attend the original tour might be inclined to think the audience was entirely female. This is not true. Although the acts were all women musicians, the crowd was quite diverse, which was proven through the sheer number of concert goers tallied over the summers.

Ten years after the original run of Lilith Fairs, there’s no doubt that a revival tour will be welcomed. Old fans can reminisce, while new music lovers can partake in a cultural phenomenon that they’ve heard stories about it.