Heavyweights of the indie music scene, as well as some of the country’s most promising new acts, are aligning for this year’s Solas Festival in Perthshire.
The midsummer celebration at the Bield in Blackruthven may be one of Scotland’s smallest festivals, but it still manages to attract an impressive line-up of stars.
Former Arab Strap frontman Aidan Moffat and acclaimed Glasgow guitarist RM Hubbert are among the headliners at this year’s gathering.
Moffat’s last major project, the documentary Where You’re Meant To Be, involved a collaboration with Blairgowrie’s Shiela Stewart, the last in a line of “travelling folk royalty”. She died shortly before the film was released.
Moffat and Hubbert will be performing songs from their new collaborative album.
Elsewhere on the Solas bill is Jordanian/Palestinian “shamstep” act 47Soul, whose debut album was voted World Music Album of the Month by the Guardian.
Rising Scottish star Siobhan Wilson, a regular on the BBC 6Music playlist, will also be performing.
A Solas spokeswoman said: “The festival is nestled in the idyllic countryside setting at Blackruthven in Perthshire and has run over midsummer weekends every year since 2009.
“This year, the festival theme is Drift, and various artists, performances and discussions, will explore the drift between peoples and places, from the songs and stories of Gaelic traveller communities, to the darker connections between Scotland and Empire.”
She added: “Audiences are invited to come and examine how people move in and out of Scotland and around our world, and what those journeys can mean.”
The festival will also feature Hannah Lavery, who will perform her award-winning solo show The Drift, exploring migrant and mixed raced identities in Scotland.
World Slam champion Harry Baker will lead poetry workshops, as well as performing on the main stage. while Professor John Curtice will lead a discussion on the future of Scottish politics. There will also be sessions from, amongst others, political activist and former member of the band Faithless Dave Randall, and UNESCO chair Professor Alison Phipps.
Around 1,500 people are expected to attend this year’s show.
It runs from Friday to Sunday, June 22 to 24. Full details can be found at the festival website.
