Found in the southwest corner of Scotland, Dumfries and Galloway, known as the "Scottish Riviera", is one of Scotland's hidden gems. While the Solway coast has many sheltered sandy coves and the lush green countryside has all the makings of a world class vacation destination it is frequently overlooked in preference to the usual tourist hotspots such as Edinburgh. However, especially in recent years, there has been a marked increase in tourism to the region and, as the area has many of the typical tourist attractions such as castles, stately homes and ruined abbeys, this growth is likely to continue long into the future.
Dumfries and Galloway is one of the most beautiful regions in Scotland. Found in the southwest corner Dumfries and Galloway has a number of beautiful picturesque places to visit and it was considered so beautiful and inspirational that many artists have, in the past, lived in the quaint village of Kirkcudbright. So beautiful is the Solway coast that it has been dubbed the "Scottish Riviera" and it is becoming extremely popular as a Scottish vacation destination.
Towards the end of July each year the peaceful Dumfries and Galloway is rocked by the raucous sounds of one of Scotland's most exciting music festivals, the Wickerman Music Festival. The site for the festival is at East Kirkcarswell, near Dundrennan right in the heart of Dumfries & Galloway and for as far as the eye can see there is beautiful countryside populated only by sheep, cattle, and a whole horde of very friendly festival folk.
Although Wickerman is a music festival it is actually themed upon a 1973 classic of British cinema, The Wicker Man. In 2006 Nicolas Cage appeared in a Hollywood remake but many folk still prefer the quirky original starring Christopher Lee, Britt Ekland and Edward Woodward.
Nearly all music festivals feature folk who dress up in all manner of costumes and regalia but at the Wickerman Music Festival there are far more than usual. The 1973 movie featured a number of animal costumes and many festival goers enjoy dressing up in a similar fashion. Much of the festival site has reminiscences of the movie and there is even an open air cinema but the most amazing film related event at the festival is the burning of a huge Wicker Man which must be seen to be believed.
Wickerman is considered a family friendly music festival with many aspects geared towards family entertainment. This includes a full fairground, many circus events and acts including jugglers and stilt walkers as well as many small stalls and other areas of entertainment besides the music stages and tents. In the camping area there is a family and quiet area and, unusually for music festivals, the toilet facilities are usually rather clean. However if you want to ensure a clean toilet and you would rather not use one of the plastic portloo types then there is the "down and dirty" which, for a small extra fee, provides you with proper porcelain toilets which are continually monitored for cleanliness and toilet roll etc. There are also, if required, showers available in the down and dirty area. There are plenty of food stalls, clothing stalls and lots of other retailers including bars.
Being held in the gorgeous Dumfries and Galloway countryside it is wonderful to see that the Wickerman Music Festival organizers have gone to great lengths to ensure that there is minimal impact upon the local, and global, environment. It is actually the "greenest" music festival I have attended and each year more effort and thought goes into improving this aspect of the music festival. Litter is never a problem as "wickerpickers" can be seen wandering around collecting litter and categorizing it into the various types ready for recycling. Around the camp site there are various places to put materials suitable for recycling and even the abandoned tents are packed up and sent off to charity. It is truly amazing that only a very short time after the event it looks as though nobody was ever there!
Strangely I have left the music aspects of the Wickerman Music Festival until the very last and this is for a simple reason that virtually all types make an appearance at this extremely diverse event. Punk, Ska, reggae, folk, dance, electronic, pop, rock, world music and many, many other types appear across a multitude of stages and tents making it, possibly, the most varied UK music event of the year. Obviously this means that many different types of people attend Wickerman but it also gives people the opportunity to experience types of music which they may not otherwise be exposed to. The really great thing about this music festival is that, even though there is an extremely diverse crowd, all folk are warm and friendly to such a degree that the atmosphere is one of the things that will remain with you long after the festival itself has finished.
Article Source: http://www.orbitaloc.com/
Wickerman is a wonderful festival and the internet has many Wickerman 2007 photos and more Wickerman 2008 photos are appearing all of the time, so go and take a look
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