The Moshville Times - Wildfire Festival celebrates milestone 10th Anniversary

In 10 days’ time, music fans from all corners of the UK will gather at a quiet Scottish village to mark 10 years of Wildfire Festival – a grassroots music event that has given a platform to more than 500 new bands – and has kick-started the music careers of many.

Run by local promoter Dave Ritchie, Wildfire Festival has stood tall for new rock bands every year. The festival has withstood the economic pressures that the live music scene has gone through – including the ravages of a global pandemic, which threatened the very existence of the grassroots music scene. Wildfire Festival has returned every year and even during the darkest days of the first national lockdown, the event switched to radio, with local music fans gathering in Scotland for a socially-distanced celebration as the live sets were enjoyed online.

This year, 36 new and rising rock, blues and metal artists will perform at Wildfire Festival, which runs for three days between 1-3 July at Wanlockhead. Headlining this year’s event will be New York blues sensation Sari Schorr and rising rock force Bad Touch, a band that Wildfire has cultivated since the beginning. Saturday night headliners will be new rock superstars in the making, The Scarlet Rebels, who became the highest charting new UK rock band earlier this year, when their fan-powered album ‘See Through Blue’ smashed into the Official Album Chart at Number 7. Another band that Wildfire Festival has ed from the start and has helped to nurture over the years.

Scottish bands have always featured strongly at Wildfire Festival, which has acted as a launch-pad for many local acts to go on and attract national attention. Following the festival’s historic for top Scottish talent such as Mason Hill, Anchor Lane, North Atlas and The Swamp Born Assassins, this year stage slots have been given to Ten Tonne Dozer, Chasin The Train and Sad Ida.

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There will be a special party element to this year’s Wildfire Festival, as the iconic Scottish rock event celebrates its 10th anniversary. Billed as the family festival “for rockers with altitude,” Wildfire Festival is set high in the Scottish mountains, at an altitude of 1,531 feet above sea level. The festival presents a safe environment for people from all walks of life and the event is committed to ing the local community economically.

This year’s event has drawn fans from all corners of the UK, with some making the trip from as far away as the USA, Sweden, and Shetland. The festival will also be offering 30 free tickets to NHS workers in Scotland as a heartfelt thank you for the work of our NHS heroes saving lives during the COVID pandemic.

Festival organiser Dave Ritchie comments:

It’s hard to believe it’s already 10 years. I putting on the first Wildfire Festival, as a small grassroots event for local friends and now we have loyal music fans making the long trip to Scotland each year to what has become their favourite music festival. A 10th anniversary is special but this summer is also a moment to celebrate getting through a pandemic as well as ing those we have lost. Our main stage banner will carry the colours of the Ukraine national flag as we share a message of love and freedom for people that are fighting for their freedom this summer. Music is a healer and a unifier – and, at Wanlockhead, Wildfire Festival will bring people together for a weekend to celebrate rising bands and the role music and the arts can play to make the world a better place.

Tickets for Wildfire Festival can be purchased from http://www.wildfirefestival.co.uk

NHS workers can apply for a chance to win free tickets (max 30 available) by clicking on the link on the website, or ing the organisers ([email protected]) directly. Tickets will be allocated on a first come first served basis and a maximum of two tickets per household is permitted but under 16 can the adults for free.

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The full line-up of bands confirmed to play the three-day weekend festival (in alphabetical order):