Bay City Rollers headline Forres Family Fest from the team behind MacMoray
MOSSET Park is rocking for the first Forres Family Fest, organised by the team behind the famous MacMoray Festival.
A crowd of more than 1200 has turned out in decent weather for seven bands including local favourites and one of Scotland’s most famous exports - Bay City Rollers - due to headline at 9pm.
Forres Mechanics’ fundraiser Sandy Aird is delighted with the turnout and atmosphere.
He said: “It’s been fantastic day so far, with a great atmosphere.
“It’s been great to see so many kids having fun in particular, kicking footballs about on the pitch and enjoying picnics with their friends and folks.”
Forres band Be Like Pablo followed opening act Reliever at lunchtime for their final in a trilogy of recent local gigs.
“It was great,” said lead singer and guitarist Ewen Watson. “We came to Mosset Park as youngsters for the football so it was cool to play on a stage in the stadium.
“It was a laidback performance as the crowd took their seats. Forres Fest is family-focused - great for us, as we were able to play for younger folk too.”
Glaswegian drummers and pipers, Clanadonia, set off from the city at 6am to be here and felt it was well-worth the trip north.
Bass drummer Tu-Bardh Wilson said: “We’ve really enjoyed it here. There’s a Highland Games vibe about the event with a fantastic atmosphere.
“The set-up is generally brilliant and we couldn’t have been made to feel more welcome.
“The hospitality is spot-on and we would definitely come back.”
Music fan Gary Mackintosh from Forres brought his family at around 2pm.
“All good, nice atmosphere,” he said. “It’s nice for Forres to have an event like this.
“From the kids point of view, a few more showies, stalls and rides would make it better for them … “But it’s great to be able to let them go off and do their own thing in an enclosed area. It gives us parents peace of mind.”
He added: “The boss - Jessica - will decide what time we’re going home!”
“I’ve seen lots of friends,” added Jessica (9) “and I’ve enjoyed playing at the stalls.”
Parking is available at the old Tesco car park on Gordon Street.
Stalls and vans beside the stand and around the pitch sides are selling refreshments, merchandise and crafts. There’s a raffle, fairground attractions, hair braiding, face painting and tarot reading.
There’s also a licenced bar.
Forres loon Chris Bosely also came with his family and friends.
“I would come again,” he said. “It’s great for Forres to have events like this - there should be more like it! “Hopefully it will encourage more and this one gets even bigger with a more varied line up.
“It’s mainly been Scottish-style music - a DJ set or a mix of band styles would make it ideal.
“Having said that, Be Like Pablo were good!”
Chris’ daughter Olivia (9) has loved the music but was too shy to dance in front of the stage with her pals.
“I like the sweets stall most,” she said.
“We’ve been here for most of the day,” added her friend Jenna Wareham (9). “I really like the music and dancing down at the front.”
Finally, having travelled from Keith and Fochabers, Bay City Rollers megafans Avril Raffan and friends are counting down the minutes until their heroes take to the stage to round-off an entertaining day out.
She said: “We’ve been to every MacMoray event apart from MacPiping Hot in Forres.
“We really enjoyed Caledonia and all the other Scottish music so far. We’ve been speaking to so many folk and have enjoyed the social side of the day most of all.”
More pictures and reaction in next week’s Forres Gazette.
