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PICTURES: ‘Emotional’ return to Northern Meeting Park for live Highland festival The Gathering


By Margaret Chrystall

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THE Gathering returned to the Northern Meeting Park on Saturday – and it was a celebration of the return to summer festival life for the 6000 crowd, musicians, crew and traders.

With advice from organisers beforehand for the audience to take lateral flow tests and masks worn in queues and elsewhere, plus hand sanitisation stations all over the site, it was hard to forget about Covid.

It made its impact on the line-up too, The Peatbog Faeries and GLIN had to pull out when a member of each band found they had it.

cdBut the line-up change gave an opportunity for young Inverness band Cala to open the main stage and win over the early crowd – while over at Stage 2, Ali Levack, another member of duo GLIN, teamed up with Nairn’s Mike Vass for a replacement set.

Asked how Covid had impacted on this year’s Gathering, event producer Dougie Brown said: “The crew and everyone on site had to take lateral flow tests and we were advising customers to have them too, though it wasn’t a condition of entry.

"We had more toilets than was required and more frequent cleaning to make sure everyone was as comfortable as possible.

“But it was hugely emotional for artists, staff and traders to be back at a live festival.”

There were events for youngsters and on Stage 2, alternative events included STV’s Nicola McAlley interviewing Nessie hunter Steve Feltham. But the crowd was there to party, with Rhythmnreel, The Kinnaris Quintet, Trail West, Torridon, The Red Hot Chilli Pipers, Skerryvore, and finally Wolfstone ensuring that.

Anna Massie and Mairearad Green played to a packed crowd to top Stage 2.

An announcement about 2022’s Gathering will come later this week.


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