BBC ALBA x Belladrum Talent Search
Following the success of the 2024 talent search, BBC ALBA and team Bella have once again teamed up with a new quest to find the best up-and-coming musical talent from the Highlands and Islands.
Open to solo artists and bands (where at least 50% of its members have a Highland home address) across all genres, one newcomer will be given the opportunity to perform on the main stage at this year’s Belladrum Tartan Heart Music Festival. Hurray!
Known for its unique and diverse showcase of music and the arts, Belladrum has grown in popularity over the past 20 years, now attracting thousands of visitors. As we prepare for our 21st year, with acts including Texas, Supergrass, Paul Heaton, Tom Walker and Natasha Bedingfield confirmed, we’re on the hunt to find the best new homegrown talent to open the main stage at the Hot House Arena on Thursday 31 July.
True to its longstanding support of Scottish artists, our good friends at BBC ALBA are supporting the search, providing a platform to propel newcomers onto the celebrated Scottish music scene, as well as an additional opportunity for the winner to record an acoustic session in the BBC ALBA studio at the festival.
Calum McConnell, commissioning editor at BBC ALBA, said:
“While there is nothing quite like the atmosphere of being in the field at a festival, shoulder to shoulder with fellow music and arts fans, BBC ALBA remain committed to bringing the magic of Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival to audiences who can’t be there in person, as we have done for the past 13 years.
“Our festival highlights are always a popular fixture in BBC ALBA’s summer schedule, and this year will be no exception. The addition of the talent search will shine an even brighter light on the incredible creativity emerging from the Highlands and Islands.”
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 the BBC and Belladrum, alongside an independent musician appearing at the festival, before the shortlist goes to a public vote.
Applications will open on Tuesday 27 May at 9am and will close at 11.59pm on Sunday 8 June. We expect to open the public vote on Friday 13 June via our Belladrum website, with voting closing on Friday 20 June.
Belladrum festival producer, Dougie Brown, said:
“We’re so excited to be teaming up with BBC ALBA once again to uncover and celebrate the next wave of incredible Scottish talent. This opportunity is so much more than a performance slot — it’s a potential launchpad for an artist’s future. Over the years, we’ve seen past talent go on to build amazing careers, and that journey often starts right here, on the Belladrum stage.
“Our partnership with BBC ALBA has been instrumental in showcasing not just the festival, but the creativity and energy coming out of the Highlands and Islands. Fourteen years on, it’s still a huge moment when a fresh new voice gets the chance to share their music with thousands, both on site and at home. We can’t wait to see who takes that spotlight this year.”
Last year’s BBC ALBA x Belladrum talent search winner, Cameron Ferguson, said:
“Almost a year on from winning the 2024 Belladrum talent search, I can still say that opening up that stage was the proudest moment of my musical journey to date. The feeling of playing on a stage I had once only dreamed of playing was surreal, especially one so close to home. Thank you Belladrum, you’ve opened a lot doors for the band and I. We will be back soon enough!”
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 Thursday 31 July: Belladrum on BBC ALBA.
Belladrum Tartan Heart Music Festival and BBC ALBA Talent Search, Terms and Conditions
1. 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)).
2. 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.
3. Solo artists studying or living elsewhere but with a permanent residence in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland are eligible to apply.
4. At least 50% of band members should have a home address within the Highlands and Islands.
5. Entrants can enter by sending a short bio (500 words max) and links to their music or live performances to tartanheart@bbc.co.uk.
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. The winning act will be given the chance to perform on the Hot House Arena at the Belladrum Tartan Heart Music Festival on Thursday 31 July 2025. 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.
9. Previous winners of this opportunity are ineligible to enter this year’s talent search.
10. The talent search is not open to employees, agents or contractors of the BBC and the Belladrum Tartan Heart Music Festival, or their immediate families or any other person connected or involved with the talent search.
11. Applications will open on Tuesday 27 May at 09:00 and will close at 23:59 on Monday 9 June. It is expected that the public vote will open on Friday 13 June, and will close at 09:00 on Friday 20 June.
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.comduring 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.