15 years ago, we started looking for an alternative music festival that was family friendly to start taking my son to. We'd done Reading, Glastonbury a couple of times and T in the Park ten times so wanted to include him in our yearly adventures into mayhem....after a bit of looking we found Doune the Rabbit Hole. In it's first year, it promised a completely different experience of the larger festivals. It was insane, under 500 attendees, most of whom appeared to be spaced out hippies or travelling folk. It took place in reconstructed medieval fort, the main stage was a flatbed truck, camping was in the middle of a forest, and it pissed down with rain the whole weekend, but we fell in love with the whole thing.
The following year it moved to a different site, in the grounds of Cardross Estate, a beautiful stately home in the middle of nowhere. We decided to leave jnr behind until he was a bit older, and had a ball to ourselves. Gradually, the festival got bigger and bigger, growing a reputation for showcasing Scottish and UK up and coming bands along with some legend slots. Then Covid came, and put everything on hold. The 2020 festival was cancelled, but it looked like 2021 was going to happen, when they bought back isolation rules and it was cancelled at short notice. In order to recoup some of their losses the 2022 event doubled the size of the festival to 10,000 capacity and got some big names in - Amy McDonald, Teenage Fanclub, Belle and Sebastian top of the Scottish acts, but also John Cooper Clarke, Boney M, Patti Smith, 10CC amongst others. It all looked good, until loads of these artists and suppliers said they hadn't been paid - we'd had a great time but there was an unease about the future of the festival, so there was a bit of shock when they released tickets for 2023....and then cancelled the whole thing with less than a week to go to the event, owing nearly £1million. The company went bust, no more festival and it all left a sour taste in the mouth. We did manage to get our momey back through the bank, but lots of people we know were left out of pocket.
Out of the blue last October, a new company announced that they had taken over the festival, rebranding as Back Doune The Rabbit Hole, downscaling and going back to basics. Early bird tickets for the weekend were only £99, so we decided we'd give it another go. There's been a few teething problems with the new management company in the lead up to the weekend, but finally it arrived and we got to the site mid-morning on Friday amid glorious sunshine.
What a great weekend. About 4000 attendees, some great bands, good selection of beer and food, beer £6.50 a pint (Joker IPA for me, although there was plenty of choice). The weather held up but we decided to break camp early and came home last night before Floris kicked in, which in hindsight looks like a good decision.
Musical highlights for me included some of the lesser known acts, Sleuth Gang, The Meffs and Meryl Streak. Some fun with Elvana, a Nirvana tribute band with an Elvis impersonator as front man that really works, great lightshow from Hawkwind who can still knock out a tune. Also some old school acts like The Rezillos, and OhAsis really had the tent in full voice.
Hearing that it's going to be back for next year - we'll be there!