BBC ALBA & Belladrum are on the hunt for the Highlands and Islands’ hottest new musical talent!
BBC ALBA launches search for up-and-coming Highlands and Islands artist to open Belladrum main stage.
BBC ALBA has teamed up with The Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival during the 13th year of coverage to launch a search to find the best of Scotland’s up-and-coming musical talent.
Celebrating 20 years of Belladrum – and its longstanding support of Scottish artists – the search brings the spirit of the much-loved family festival to life to find the best talent ‘homegrown in the Highlands – and Islands’, with the winner given the opportunity to open the main stage.
Open to solo artists and bands from the Highlands and Islands (where at least 50% of its members have a Highland home address) across all genres, the talent search will showcase the top newcomer with a prime slot in the Hot House Arena on Thursday 25 July, kicking off the weekend of live music and arts. The winner will also have the opportunity to play an acoustic session in the BBC ALBA studio which will be available to watch on BBC iPlayer as part of the broadcaster’s festival coverage.
Musicians can apply by submitting a bio and link to their music to tartanheart@bbc.co.uk, with entries judged by a panel of experts, including representatives from Belladrum, the BBC and Scottish folk singer and multi-instrumentalist Julie Fowlis, before the shortlist goes to a public vote on the Belladrum website.
Julie Fowlis comments: “The Belladrum Tartan Heart festival has become one of Scotland’s most popular and iconic music festivals, set in the most beautiful Highland surroundings. It’s the kind of festival that every musician wants to play! I’m honoured to be part of the judging team for this year's talent search, which affords an amazing opportunity to an up and coming artist from the Highlands and Islands to perform at the festival. If you’d like to play Bella this year, this is your chance.”
Calum McConnell, commissioning editor at BBC ALBA, said: “We’re proud supporters of the arts in Scotland, and committed to bringing coverage of the likes of Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival to viewers across the nation through funding from MG ALBA.
”We’re always keen to showcase our homegrown talent, so what better way to extend our annual support of the Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival in its 20th anniversary year than with a search for the next best ‘homegrown’ talent from the Highlands and Islands.
“Our Belladrum festival coverage is always a highlight in the BBC ALBA summer schedule and with the winner earning a spot on the main stage, we hope this can give an emerging artist the boost to follow in the footsteps of the likes of Fatherson, Frightened Rabbit and Twin Atlantic, who all played at Belladrum early on in their careers.”
Belladrum brings together top musical acts, comedy, cabaret, spoken word, dance, drag and even wrestling as part of the annual family-friendly festival.
A wealth of new names have been added to the festival’s 20th anniversary line up in recent weeks, with returning festival favourites and artists making their first visit to the Highland event, including mighty rock music legends, Toyah & Robert, and the UK’s biggest country music export, The Shires.
A band with one of the most long-standing relationships with Belladrum, Twin Atlantic, will also make a welcome return, headlining The Garden Stage this summer – having first made their break on the festival’s emerging artist stage in 2008.
These acts join the previously announced headliners Deacon Blue, James Arthur and Sugababes, alongside Ocean Colour Scene, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Calum Beattie, Teenage Fanclub, Jack Bugg and many more, with this year’s event themed around ‘love’.
Dougie Brown, Belladrum festival producer, said: “We are delighted to be partnering with BBC ALBA in search of the most exciting up and coming artists from across the Highlands & Islands. Since the very first festival in 2004 Bella has been proud to showcase the best in emerging music alongside household names and festival favourites. Numerous artists careers have grown in parallel with the festival and there is nothing better than watching an artist's career blossom and invite them to return to the festival to perform on bigger stages and to bigger audiences over the years.”
The talent search is now open, with entries accepted via email to tartanheart@bbc.co.uk until 9am on Monday 1st July.
Get your tickets at tartanheartfestival.com. For those unable to attend, BBC ALBA will be bringing the best of the festival to viewers at home with its annual live coverage broadcast across the weekend, available on BBC ALBA and BBC iPlayer. Watch live or on demand from 25 July: Belladrum on BBC ALBA.
Belladrum Tartan Heart Music Festival and BBC ALBA Talent Search, Terms and Conditions
This talent search is open to artists who reside in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland (an area of Scotland broadly covering the Scottish Highlands, plus Orkney, Shetland and the outer Hebrides (Western Isles)).
You must be 18 or over to apply for this talent search. We may ask you to provide us with proof of age using a valid form of ID, such as a driving licence or passport.
Solo artists studying elsewhere but with a permanent residence in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland are eligible to apply.
At least 50% of band members should have a home address within the Highlands and Islands.
Entrants can enter by sending a short bio and links to their music to tartanheart@bbc.co.uk.
A judging panel consisting of representatives of the BBC, the Belladrum Tartan Heart Music Festival and an independent musician appearing at the festival will shortlist our finalists.
A public vote hosted on the Belladrum Tartan Heart Music Festival website found here https://tartanheartfestival.com/ will then determine the winner of the talent search.
The winning act will be given the chance to perform on the Hot House Arena on Thursday 25 July 2024. There will also be an additional opportunity to record an acoustic session in the BBC ALBA studio on site at the festival. Please ensure that you or all band members are available on this date before applying for this opportunity.
Applications will open on Monday 17 June at 9am and will close at 9am on Monday 1 July. It is expected that the public vote will open on Friday 5 July, and will close at 9am on Friday 12 July.
Online Voting Terms and Conditions
1. You can take part by accessing the relevant web page on the Belladrum Tartan Heart Music Festival website found here: https://tartanheartfestival.com/ You will find the question and a list of alternative answers. You can register your vote by electronically selecting the option you wish to vote for.
2. Any votes registered outside the announced voting times, which will be listed online, will not count.
3. This is not a competition and there will be no monetary prize for anyone taking part. The BBC will endeavour to work alongside the winning act, however the BBC are under no obligation to broadcast filmed performances should certain circumstances arise or where editorial standards are not met. However the vote result stands.
4. The number of times you can vote may be restricted. The presence of a cap to voting and what that limit is will be made clear for each vote. Some votes may be restricted geographically to within the UK only. If you are not in the right area you will not see the vote.
5. Live results may be displayed on the Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival website found here https://tartanheartfestival.com during the vote window. These should not be taken as an indicator of the final published results, but merely as a snapshot for interest. The BBC or the Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival will announce the final result on-air and/or online when voting is closed and the actual result is known.
6. The BBC and the Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival reserves the right to disqualify entries or suspend voting if it has reasonable grounds to suspect that fraudulent voting has occurred or if it considers there has been any attempt to rig the voting. The BBC and the Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival has the right to substitute an alternative selection method at its absolute discretion. For the purposes of investigating possible voting irregularities when voting, the Belladrum Tartan Heart Music Festival may use cookies, log IP addresses or analyse the information. The Belladrum Tartan Heart Music Festival will not publish this information or provide it to anyone without permission, except where required for enforcement of these terms. Further information relating to the Belladrum Tartan Heart Music Festival Privacy Policy can be found here https://tartanheartfestival.com/privacy-policy
7. If, for any reason, the online voting system fails, the vote may be suspended or a contingency plan may be actioned.
8. The BBC and the Belladrum Tartan Heart Music Festival reserves the right to change, cancel or suspend this vote at any time.
9. The Belladrum Tartan Heart Music Festival, its sub-contractors, subsidiaries and/or agencies cannot accept any responsibility whatsoever for any technical failure or malfunction or any other problem with any system, server, provider or otherwise which may result in any vote not being received by the Belladrum Tartan Heart Music Festival, not properly registered or recorded.
10. Please note that BBC, BBC Group or the Belladrum Tartan Heart Music Festival employees, or anyone who is directly connected in any way with the associated content or the vote, is not eligible to vote.
11. The voting will be hosted on the Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival website found at https://tartanheartfestival.com/ and the voting process accords with the BBC's Code of Conduct for Competitions and Voting, details of which can be found on the BBC's Standards and Guidelines website at https://www.bbc.com/editorialguidelines/guidance/code-of-conduct
12. Online votes are subject to the Belladrum Tartan Heart Music Festival Privacy Policy found at https://tartanheartfestival.com/privacy-policy and, if relevant, the BBC Privacy and Cookies Policy found at http://www.bbc.co.uk/usingthebbc/privacy/privacy-policy, more information about Cookies can be found at http://www.bbc.co.uk/usingthebbc/cookies/ and BBC online Terms of Use found at http://bbc.co.uk/usingthebbc/terms/terms-of-use .
13. These Terms and Conditions are governed by the law of England and Wales.
BBC ALBA
BBC ALBA HD is available on the following platforms / Tha BBC ALBA HD ri fhaighinn anns na h-aiteachan a leanas:
BBC iPlayer
Sky 117 (Scotland) / Sky 169 (rest of UK)
Virgin Media 120 (Scotland) / Virgin Media 161 (rest of UK)
Freesat 109
BBC ALBA SD is available on Freeview / You View 7 (Scotland only).
Belladrum
Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival is an annual family friendly festival that brings together an inclusive programme of top musical acts, comedy, cabaret, spoken word, dance, drag and even wrestling on the Belladrum Estate in Kiltarlity, Scotland.
Established in 2004, Belladrum celebrates its 20th anniversary year in 2024 with the theme of ‘love’ pinned for the festival, taking place from Thursday 25 to Saturday 27 July.
@belladrumfestival #Bella2024 #LoveBella