T in the Park boss Geoff Ellis believes “the stars will align” for next month’s return to Strathallan Castle – with the hottest festival in living memory.
Scotland’s biggest celebration of live music is set to take place on the warmest weekend for more than a century.
Meteorologists predict that temperatures across the country could rocket into the 30Cs by mid-July.
It means this year’s T in the Park should be a far cry from the 2015 show which was beset by near constant downpours.
And Mr Ellis hopes that won’t be the only difference.
He has assured that a complete overhaul of the site lay-out and traffic arrangements will prevent a repeat of the problems that plagued last year’s event and made it the most complained about festival since its launch 22 years ago.
“We’ve made a lot of big changes this time round,” said Mr Ellis. “Last year was our first at the new site and it was always going to be difficult.
“There was a lot of focus on things that weren’t really festival related, so it’s good that we were able to concentrate on our plans for this year.
“The traffic plan from last year has been ripped up and we’ve got a whole new strategy in place. We’ve made huge improvements to the bus station, with dedicated bus routes in and out of the site.”
He said: “We’ve also made the lay-out much better. We had to make some last minute changes in 2015, which wasn’t ideal. This time, we are looking at a completely new lay-out.”
Mr Ellis said Strathallan Castle will become a more prominent feature this time round. “Last year, because of the way the site was set out, you could only really see the castle from part of the campsite.
“Now it will be much more visible form the arena, which is what we really wanted all along.”
Mr Ellis said he never considered taking a year off, despite the major problems at last summer’s show. “We knew we could make it work again and we’ve had a whole year to plan, so there was no real reason to take a year off as far as I was concerned.”
He added: “I am very confident things will be better this year. We brought in Melvin Benn, from Festival Republic, who turned Glastonbury around and has years and years of experience with other music festivals. It’s great to have him on board, along with some new members of our organisational team.
“And we’ve got our fingers cross that the weather forecast is right. The meteorologists seem adamant that this is going to be the hottest weekend of the year. In fact, they say it will be the hottest day for about 100 years.
“So it’s now looking like, next weekend, the stars are going to align for one of our best ever festivals.”
Star-studded line-up won back fans
T in the Park won back disgruntled fans with one if its strongest ever line-ups.
Manchester icons the Stone Roses, fresh from playing a series of spectacular homecoming shows, will headline on the Friday night, with Scottish dance star Calvin Harris topping the bill on Saturday.
The Red Hot Chilli Peppers, who were last seen performing the Super Bowl half-time show, will bring the 2016 event to a close on Sunday evening.
But Geoff Ellis believes one of the most memorable performances could be further down the bill – a largely unknown group of classical musicians who will take to the main stage on Sunday afternoon.
The Rogue Orchestra will be play a classical homage to rock legends David Bowie and Prince, who died earlier this year.
Mr Ellis said: “Bowie was going to play T in the Park, but had to pull out because of an injury.
“That’s why we really wanted to do something this year to pay tribute. I think this will be a poignant way to start the last day of the festival.”
The packed line-up also includes LCD Soundsystem, the Last Shadow Puppets and Faithless.
