The growing popularity of music festivals worldwide is phenomenal and in the United Kingdom there has been a dramatic increase in the number of events this year. While many people know of the huge festivals such as Glastonbury not many know of many of the smaller events which account for over 400 festivals this year.
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.
Interestingly the Wickerman Music Festival is themed upon a 1973 film called "The Wicker Man" which starred Edward Woodward, Christopher Lee and Britt Ekland. The British movie is somewhat strange and rather disturbing at times. Having steadily gained a cult status it was remade by Hollywood in 2006 and starred Nicolas Cage but it failed to meet much success.
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.
The order of the day seems to be saving the planet and the organizers of the Wickerman Music Festival are to be congratulated on their efforts to massively reduce the impact of the festival upon the environment. The immediate festival site is permanently kept clean of litter and other debris, usually seen at other festivals, by a squad of volunteers known as "wickerpickers". All waste is carefully sorted ready for recycling and this goes as far as packing up all of the abandoned tents and donating them to good causes.
Finally I will mention the music of the Wickerman festival, after all that is what it is all about. Most UK music festivals seem to focus upon one, or maybe two, specific genres of music but at Wickerman there is a most amazing eclectic mix of sounds ranging from reggae to punk, from acoustic folk to ska, from pop to hard dance and electronic and all manner of world music including many types of music which defy the usual categories. This may appear strange but it is one of the aspects which helps create the most incredible atmosphere as all types of people mix together and celebrate their enjoyment of live music. There is one thing, besides the incredible scenery, that you will take away with you from the Wickerman Music Festival and that is the most amazing memories of friendliness not often experienced these days.
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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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