Trio of top acts join the line-up for Speyfest

A HAT-trick of exciting new additions have been made to the line-up for Speyfest 2024.

Joining Tide Lines on the bill for the Fochabers-based music festival will be Trail West, Skerryvore and Tour Bus Fortune.

Early bird tickets for next year are on sale now, giving keen festival-goers the chance to secure their place for a reduced price. A cherished annual event, Speyfest continues to bring the best in Celtic and traditional Scottish music to Moray every summer, with the iconic tented village set to take over the local playing fields from July 19-21, 2024.

Trail West, the explosive six-piece powerhouse with strong links to the Western Highlands and Islands, are set to play Speyfest for the first time. With a loyal following of fans, they continue to rise in popularity. The band have drawn impressive crowds at festivals across Scotland, as well as selling out some of the country's biggest venues in the past few years, and will now bring their iconic sound to Moray.

Also taking to the main stage will be returning favourites Skerryvore, three-time winners of Live Act of the Year at the MG Alba Scots Trad Music Awards. With their unique fusion of folk, trad, rock and pop, and seven albums to their name, the band are hailed as representing the best in contemporary Scottish traditional music and always go down a storm with Speyfest audiences.

Completing the trio of new acts joining the bill, local stars Tour Bus Fortune last played Speyfest’s 25th anniversary in 2022. Having performed together for over a decade, the group perform well-known songs fused with a Celtic edge, combining vocals and fiddle with a strong rhythmic backing to create their signature sound.

Already announced as headliners when early bird tickets went on sale in August, Tide Lines last performed at Speyfest in 2017, shortly after the release of the band’s first album, Dreams We Never Lost. Now icons within the Scottish music scene, the Highland sensations are set to make their return to the north-east for next year's festival, in what is currently the only opportunity to catch the celebrated band in this region next summer.

Speyfest Chair Ashleigh Macgregor said: “We’re so excited to announce the first wave of acts joining Tide Lines on the bill for Speyfest 2024.

"It’s an honour to have Skerryvore and Tour Bus Fortune returning to Fochabers, having been crowd favourites here in previous years, and to have Trail West joining us for the first time will be incredible.

“Early bird tickets are on sale now, and we would encourage anyone who wants to secure their place at next year’s festival early to act quickly as they won’t be available for much longer. This is just the start of what we’ve got planned for 2024 and we can’t wait to share more with you soon!”

Iain Smith of Trail West added: "We're really looking forward to adding another fantastic Scottish festival to our schedule in 2024!

"2023 has been fantastic so far with some absolutely cracking shows throughout the country. This has made us even more excited for next year and Speyfest is sure to be a fantastic addition to our calendar!"

First held in 1995, Speyfest has grown from a local event with one small tent holding around 300 people, to a 1500-capacity festival and much-loved jewel in the traditional music calendar in the north-east. The 2023 edition saw over 3000 attendances across the three-day event, with 30 performances from around 160 musicians bringing the town’s pop-up tented village on the playing fields to life.

Early bird tickets are on sale now at https://speyfest-ltd.ticketlight.co.uk/ and at Christies the Chemist in Fochabers.