My second year at Knockengorrach and it was an absolute belter! You cannot beat the scenic location of this site nestled in between the Dodd O’Cainsmore valleys, with its bumbling brook and wandering paths. You have to get there early to get a nice spot camping by the river, especially if you are in a campervan type home. 

The festival is small enough you can be anywhere in 5 minutes. Paddling by the river, lounging round a camp fire, climbing a hill side for views. And if there is one thing you seem to get everywhere in Knockengorrach, it is nice friendly, interesting, beautiful people. 

This year I was lucky to be able to escort a friend of mine recovering from a recent serious knee operation and her elderly dog Stan.

15 year old Border Terrier, sturdy, slow but steady, he was the old man dog through which his eyes we took in the festival. So first thing Friday morning while looking over the programme Stan decided who he wanted to see and when. He decided his Friday night finale act had to be the band Ferocious Dog. Then he would be happy to be escorted back to his campervan and left to snooze while the humans continued to explore the night time delights.

Friday was kicked off at the Bo-Airigh stage (the main stage) with a band called Awry who delivered an uplifting rolling melodic Scottish sound and got everyone holding hands and tramping around the field in a huge circle of Celtic love. Stan was quite impressed with the ceilidh dancing and we were momentarily blessed with some sunshine.

Next up on the same stage was Jeremy Mage and the Magi who had very thoughtful lyrics. Carrying their social wanderings with some gorgeous rhythms and at times fairly big bass backed melodies.

Quick nip around the eclectic food stalls for refuelling and a good look at the marvellous goods available at the stalls and we were set up and ready for the band we had all been looking forward to all day. Stan had his scarf on. We were ready.

And boy did Ferocious Dog get the place going. Stan the old man was on his feet to their stomping fast paced Celtic beats. Their lyrics were incredible, very socially and politically conscious. A little bit of political anarchy never did anyone any harm! Incredible experience speaking to the band back stage, what an amazing bunch of people with such guts, humility and purpose. Dan Booth, the bands fiddler and manager said “the music we are producing is so current it surprises even ourselves.” They have a new album out on the 29^th June and I would highly recommend getting it. If you like high energy punk folk music, you will love these guys. It’s impossible not to.

We took a very happy tail wagging Stan back to his campervan, tucked him up for the night and made it back on site in time to catch a few numbers of Friday's headliners, Macka B and the Roots Raga band. Speaking to the band directly before they went on stage, they were excited to be playing the festival and hoped the audience were going to rip it up to their positive lyrics and Rastafarian vibes. They were really good fun and enjoyable to listen to.

Next stop was a quick dance in the headphone disco and quite a few hours lost to the bass in the Sheiling tent before we retired to our fire pit in the tree’s and slept away the early hours of the morning well into mid-day.

Now there is another wonderful thing about the Knockengorrach festival, nothing starts too early. So you can have a late night, sleep in late and still not miss the first act of the next day. Or so we thought but then an odd thing happened, the sun came out and surprised us all. Yes that is right, you heard it here first, the sun...came out...in Scotland. For a whole day! We climbed up the Dodd Hill and spent the day in the glorious sunshine looking down on the festival, snoozing and enjoying the countryside views with the sounds of the stage drifting up to us and the bass from the ever rocking Sheiling tent gently vibrating the ground. It was such a beautiful way to spend the day. Stan much approved.

On our walk back down the hillside we found a van absolutely packed full of Bongos. No idea whose van it was or why. How many bongos can you fit in one van?

Saturday night it went from yellow and gold back to grey and cold, the summer feeling gone, followed by a night of continuing drizzle. That’s Scotland for Ye! It may have dampened our clothes but it did not dampen our spirits. The Peat Bog Faeries delivered a stomping gritty and meaty celtic set. ‘The Naughty Step’ was a fantastic song with some really boomtastic bass lines that got you right in the chest and the pipes, fiddle and diddley dee made our feet do the rest. A passing boogie in the Sheiling tent to the social commentary rapping of Stanley Odd whose hip-hop sound and funky sound was hugely enjoyed by the crowd and sent us off to our beds with lyrical content challenging our heads.

Sunday we popped into the beautiful Langwhan twice. It's a grass roofed Celtic longhouse, nestled next to the river. We have no idea who was playing but it the first time but it was an incredible jam session with drums, whistles and fiddles. All heightened by the smell of musk and the limited light in the longhouse. A small but snug venue with a rustic smell and acoustic sounds. The second time it was a Baltic influenced female band whose songs and drums went right through you and thrilled you to the bone. Beautiful.

By now Stan was a little overwhelmed and the drizzle had begun again so we had a hot cocoa in the lovely Werdigan cafe.

We then retired to our campervans for some rest and recuperation in preparation for the big finale of the weekend, Shooglenifty.

They were brilliant! The melodic symmetry of their traditional folky Celtic sounds and their ability to mix it up with big fat beats had us all finding our last surge of energy and dancing our wet socks off.

If I heard it once over the weekend, I heard at least 30 times, as Stan made friends and we discussed Knockengorrach being his first ever festival, so many people declared Knockengorrach their favourite festival of the year. People had come from all over the world. And we will definitely be making it back again. All in all Knockengorrach is a beautiful festival. Small yet perfectly packed it has everything you need: fabulous organic cafes, one of which is 24 hour, so even at 4am, you can get a warm satisfying snack. The disabled access is immediately beside the stage, the paths are good, toilets kept clean and regularly refreshed. The bar beers are delicious, the friendliness of everyone so welcoming and the amount of doggy friends made it all just perfect for Stan the old man and his first festival foray.

Review and photos: Lou Hyland