Unique Scottish beachfront festival Tiree Music Festival (TMF) officially gets underway today for what is set to be an unmissable celebration of music, community and culture across three action-packed days.
Running until Sunday 14th July, the 2024 edition of the festival has been much-anticipated by visitors, artists and organisers alike after last year’s event had to be cancelled due to extreme weather.
Crowds who arrived on Tiree early last night were warmed up with local band Travee, Oban group CHUNKS and party-starters Jam Sandwich. Audiences donned their best bright and bold carnival costumes in a bid to win this year’s fancy dress competition and bag tickets to TMF 2025 as everyone got in the mood for what’s to come across the next three days.
Launching the festivities today on the Elevate Stage is Trail West’s Jonathan Gillespie before vibrant folk band Heisk, neo-trad trio Project Smok and Skye electro-trad duo Valtos take to the stage. Indie-folk sensations Tide Lines are tonight’s headliner, performing their trademark anthemic songs in the Big Top Tent as they return to the first festival they ever performed at as a band.
Kicking things off on Saturday, infamous Glasgow busker Maria McAveety opens the show on the Elevate Stage, followed by an acoustic pop set from Kirsteen Harvey, and performances from indie folk fusion duo The Laurettes, iconic cèilidh band Gunna Sound, and six-piece West Coast group Beinn Lee.
In the Big Top Tent, crowd-pleasing traditional band Ceòl an Aire and award-winning folk singer songwriter Aoife Scott take to the stage before there’s another chance to catch Jam Sandwich. Later in the day, TMF enthusiast Cammy Barnes and fan favourites Trail West carry the party on into the wee hours.
On Sunday, the Cornaig Ceilidh Band Collective play a tribute to Tiree accordion legend Gordon Connell in the Big Top Tent, with Teud: The Hebridean Fiddle Project and TikTok singing star NATI performing on the Elevate Stage. Electro-Celtic band Face The West return after a five-year hiatus from TMF, while Ireland’s leading country singer Nathan Carter plays Tiree for the first time. Closing the beloved festival’s 2024 edition are homegrown chart-topping talent Skerryvore, named Scotland’s Live Act of the Year three times in recent years.
Throughout the weekend, The Wee Top stage hosts a number of acoustic acts as well as fringe events including Gaelic taster sessions and a range of family-friendly activities. Elsewhere on the island, there will be beach yoga, a carnival-themed fancy dress fun run, and a sand art workshop.
One of the world’s most remote festival locations, Tiree is known fondly as the “Hawaii of the North” and visitors can soak up the friendly festival atmosphere, set against the backdrop of the Island’s white sandy beaches and world-class surf spots for a truly unique festival experience.
For those not able to make the journey to Tiree, a new digital content package, titled TMF TV is giving viewers exclusive access to some incredible performances and backstage interviews. Unique video content will be uploaded to the platform daily for the duration of the festival.
This year at TMF, there is a renewed focus on ensuring the long-term sustainability of the festival, with a range of new initiatives introduced with support from Highland and Island Enterprise and EventScotland.
The festival launches a reusable cup scheme for 2024 with 40,000 durable cups set to be used annually in place of single use plastic cups. In addition to this, TMF is reducing carbon output by investing in infrastructure including mobile showers and toilet facilities that will be kept on Tiree year round to counteract transport emissions. Together these new initiatives will result in an annual reduction of 1.8 tonnes in carbon emissions.
Daniel Gillespie, Artistic Director for Tiree Music Festival, said: “What a feeling it is to be back on Tiree and to see this year’s festival get underway after what was a heartbreaking cancellation last year. There is an immense feeling of pride within the team – the resilience and passion for TMF that has been demonstrated by both them and our audiences is something we do not take for granted and it is what makes this festival so special. With some tunes to get us warmed up last night, sunny spells forecast and a programme of wall-to-wall entertainment and activities for everyone to enjoy, the stage for TMF 2024 is well and truly set.
“We’re also very excited to be able to offer audiences worldwide a slice of Tiree with our new digital service, TMF TV. Expect exciting and exclusive behind the scenes content and lots of best bits from across the weekend. We’re really proud to be able to showcase our festival on a global scale but at the same time, we are so happy to be welcoming more than 2,000 people to our corner of the Hebrides. Thank you to everyone who has made our recovery possible, it sure is good to be back.”
TMF 2024 takes place on the Isle of Tiree until Sunday 14 July. Resale tickets for the festival are available from https://tixel.com/uk/tmf-tickets.
People can sign up for TMF TV today for a TMF 2024 introductory price of £10. Visit https://tireemusicfestival.co.uk/tmftv/.