Organisers of the Mull of Kintyre Music Festival (MOKFest) are celebrating a funding boost of up to £15,000 as they announce the line-up for another of the event’s renowned concerts.
The five-day festival is one of 39 culture, music and art projects across Scotland to share in £831,331 funding from The National Lottery in the latest round of Creative Scotland’s Open Fund awards.
This year’s MOKFest – the 31st live instalment of the iconic Campbeltown event – will take place in Campbeltown from Wednesday, August 21 to Sunday, August 24.
Alongside traditional Scottish and Pan-Irish folk music, contemporary rock and pop acts, the festival will also feature workshops, heritage walks, and its signature community gala day and parade.
Alex McKinven, funding secretary of the Mull of Kintyre Music and Arts Association which runs the event, said: “Our Creative Scotland award allows us to bring top-class artistic talent and music to an area far removed from the main centres of entertainment.
“It also supports the expansion of our project’s reach, assists audience and artistic development, and helps us provide a programme of quality tuition for young students.”
Paul Burns, interim director of arts at Creative Scotland, said: “Increasing access to the arts brings so many benefits to communities across Scotland.
“The fantastic projects awarded in the latest round of our Open Fund will bring vital opportunities for people all over the country to experience enriching culture and creative learning activities, all thanks to this crucial National Lottery funding.”
This week, MOKFest organisers announced the line-up for this year’s Dalriada Connections Concert in Campbeltown Heritage Centre on August 25.
The seated concert will feature two great headline acts, showcasing some of the best national and local bands on the Scottish folk scene.
The concert headlines with The Canny Band, a band which cook up an effervescent mix of trad-based material, and The Sarachs, featuring three wonderfully talented local musicians. They will be joined by a host of local and visiting musicians.
The Sarachs are a new iteration of much-loved Campbeltown band The Wild Sarachs, champions of the infamous Kintyre genre of “turbo-dreich” music.
At the heart of the band is the wonderful voice of Anne Leith and her metronomic guitar style which provides the heartbeat for the songs.
Les Oman doubles on guitar and bouzouki, playing in the spaces left by Anne and also chipping in on harmony vocals from time to time.
At the bottom end of the songs, Alex Johnson’s unique double bass sound transforms every tune he touches, and he is also no slouch on the harmony vocals.
The Sarachs’ current focus is on the songs of Kintyre, both old and new, and they have plans to record a selection of songs for release towards the end of 2024.
This afternoon concert is now one of the firm festival favourites and organisers would like to thank sponsors Glengyle Distillery for once again supplying a free Kilkerran whisky miniature for all attendees.
The festival has seven ticketed concerts headlined by artists including Trail West, Dougie MacLean, Katie Macfarlane, Grouse Ceilidh Band, Slainte Davaar Allstars and Kintyre Schools Pipe Band.
Tickets for all concerts are available online at www.mokfest.com – where there is more information about the festival – or locally from AP Taylor on Campbeltown’s Main Street.
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