MAY SUMMER | COVER | COVER FEATURE FEATURE
MAY | COVER FEATURE
Terminal V Festival
“ It ’ s been a very exciting year to come back and work towards an event but it ’ s probably the most challenging yet .”
– Dougie Brown
you are in the Highlands .” While the Highlands attracts around 12.5 million tourists each year , who collectively spend £ 1.5 billon , according to VisitScotland , Brown says the vast majority of Belladrum ’ s audience are from the surrounding area : “ The demographic hasn ’ t changed much since year one – around 70 % of the audience is Highlands and islandsbased .”
While Belladrum is on the verge of selling out , Brown says faltering consumer confidence resulting from the soaring cost of living has impacted sales for May ’ s The Gathering : “ There is definitely a huge appetite to get back out to events , but I think the combination of the cost of living crisis , mixed with the saturation of the festival market , is having an impact – there ’ s only so much money in people ’ s pockets .
“ The number of shows taking place this summer is just incredible . It ’ s been a very exciting year to come back and work towards an
event but it ’ s probably the most challenging yet .”
Director of Edinburgh-based promoter and producer EE Live , Simon McGrath co-founded Terminal V festival in 2017 with Derek Martin . Around 2,000 people attended the inaugural event , which now takes place twice a year – with a two-day , 20,000-capacity , festival at Easter and a one-day Halloween event for up to 15,000 . Both are staged at Edinburgh ’ s Royal Highland Centre .
McGrath says that although there have been ups and downs along the way , the local authorities have been very supportive of the festival and it is recognised as contributing substantially to the local economy .
“ We now drive in attendees from throughout the UK , Ireland and across Europe , and that brings a boost to Edinburgh ’ s accommodation and hospitality industry . That ’ s a big plus point , especially after the last two years ,” he says .
The Terminal V brand is now being rolled out further afield , with shows planned in European cities including Berlin .
Productive approach
Among the Scottish shows Londonbased event production agency We Are The Fair is working on this year is the launch of the 10,000-capacity Otherlands Music & Arts on 19-21 August at Scone Palace , a heritage site located in Perth . The festival is being promoted by Edinburgh-based promoter FLY Events – the team behind the 4,000-capacity bi-annual dance festival FLY Open Air .
The festival will include six stages spread across the grounds of Scone Palace , where Scottish kings including Macbeth and Robert the Bruce were crowned . In more recent years it has hosted events such as the 40,000-capacity Rewind Scotland .
We Are The Fair production head Yasmin Galletti di Cadilhac works on events across the UK and has found the cost of acquiring kit , infrastructure and experienced staff this year to be higher in Scotland than the rest of the UK because the pool of staff and equipment is smaller north of the border .
“ We are having to order things like fencing and staging from
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