Tartan treat for Bella as Black Isle businesswoman comes up with trailblazing design
A BLACK Isle businesswoman has helped the boffins behind Belladrum achieve a festival first by designing its own tartan.
The Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival has become the first in the UK to launch its own officially registered tartan.
It has been designed by Black Isle-based Prickly Thistle and now a range of clothing in its distinctive green and red plaid has been launched under the brand name, Naked Highlander.
Prickly Thistle, started in 2015 by Clare Campbell, is the only Highland-based tartan design studio. Creating unique designs and product collections for clients, she has already registered tartans for corporate clients such as Tomatin Distillery and also personal clients.
Belladrum Festival, taking place on August 3-5 is now in its 14 year.
The Belladrum tartan is registered with The Scottish Register of Tartans, forming part of the National Records of Scotland.
“With it being the 14 Tartan Heart festival, we thought – let’s launch our new tartan on the 14 day of February, St Valentine’s Day, a day unavoidably associated with all kinds of hearts”, said festival promoter Joe Gibbs. “As an all-ages event, Bella’s crowd have always felt like one big happy clan so it seemed appropriate for the festival to have a tartan for everyone."
“We have really enjoyed working on this project,” said Prickly Thistle’s Clare Campbell. “The design of the tartan picks up on the red of the logo and the greens of the various lichens and mosses around the estate and festival site. We were thrilled when a senior figure in the Scottish tartans world said that our Bella design was the most attractive he had seen.”
Scarfs in the tartan, bespoke kilts, ladies’ skirts and shawls and other items can be ordered through the Naked Highlander web site at www.nakedhighlander.com
* Bella features Franz Ferdinand, Sister Sledge and K T Tunstall in 2017. Printed Bella tickets are available online at www.tartanheartfestival.co.uk and from the usual retail outlets.
Thursday car parks and camping areas will be open from 8am again after this year’s successful effort to encourage patrons to arrive in a steadier flow throughout the day to reduce traffic congestion. Arenas will open from 1pm on the Thursday. When buying tickets on-line with Skiddle, Bella patrons are being given an opportunity to contribute to the Archie Foundation, a charity which is helping to improve children’s hospital facilities in the Highlands.
Bella sold out in record time again in 2016 for the eighth year in a row so fans are urged to buy early to avoid disappointment.
Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival takes place in the Belladrum Estate, near Beauly. The independent festival has built a reputation for its eclectic line-ups, its offbeat non-musical entertainments and its all-ages approach. The festival won a VisitScotland Thistle Award in 2009 and is a past winner of the Grassroots Festival Award at the UK Festival Awards, the festival industry’s ‘Oscars’.
