For HebCelt’s Michelle Shields, the road from sparkly wristbands to programming the main stage has been as natural as it’s been extraordinary.
Born and raised just a short walk from Lews Castle Green, her connection already ran deep. Looking back at what has been her coming-of-age wrapped in music, it seems obvious now that she’d end up helping shape it too.
“I grew up just along the road from the festival site,” she says. “This was in the days of no social media or mobile phones, so we relied on seeing things with our eyes, or in the local newspaper. Every summer, this big white tent would arrive. I don’t remember wondering what it was, but I do remember the first time I actually went to the festival and I got a gold sparkly wristband, which delighted me.”
That wristband unlocked a world that changed everything for Michelle. “I remember seeing Sharon Shannon on stage and thinking I’d never seen anything like this before. I’d been lucky to go to concerts in An Lanntair, and I grew up one of the Dòtaman kids. My mum always had Radio nan Gàidheal on, so I heard a lot of traditional Gaelic music but I’d not seen anything live like that before. It was just amazing.”
As a teenager, the festival became a summer ritual. “I was working in Woolies and we’d try to finish early to get over to the festival to catch big bands like Runrig. It was just something you looked forward to in the summer, especially in my late teens when I was a bit more independent.”
In 2004, Michelle left Stornoway to study Entertainment and Events management in Glasgow, not entirely sure what path she was on, but with the festival never far from her mind. “I’m not sure if HebCelt had an influence on that, but it probably did,” she reflects. “I hadn’t been involved in the festival when I chose the course, but maybe I aspired to it. I just didn’t feel capable yet.”
Back home during her first summer at university, though, she reached out to the festival team and her HebCelt journey began. “I met with Caroline Maclennan, who was the Festival Director, and was fortunate enough to get a job in the box office. That immediately immersed me into the inner team, and I got to know the directors Murdo, Martin, and Caroline.
“It was amazing seeing it all come together behind the scenes and then walking out that first Thursday night to see nearly 5,000 people in the tent. I remember thinking: we’ve met all these people. That’s amazing.”
From there, she became a fixture of the event, moving from box office manager to board member, then into artist liaison. “About five of us joined from different areas - stage, artist liaison, and myself from the office. Then Caroline started succession planning and asked me to become artist coordinator. She was still booking bands, and I took over once they were confirmed organising travel, accommodation, riders, tech specs.”
In 2023, Michelle stepped into the role of festival programmer, responsible for curating the acts that fill the Castle Green. It’s a task she takes seriously but one she embraces with passion. “I’d programmed before Ceòl is Craic in the CCA on Sauchiehall Street in Glasgow and I’d worked for Active Events under Lisa Whytock. I knew how agents approached festivals and what conversations they were having. But it was still like, ‘Right, what do we do here then?’ My aim was just to deliver something I hoped the audience would enjoy.
With hundreds of artists and agents reaching out, Michelle leans on her own ears but also keenly values the audience voice. “If you’ve been a ticket holder, you get a survey at the end of the festival. One question is ‘Who would you love to see at HebCelt?’ That’s my Bible. Why would I book someone the audience doesn’t want to see?”
She also sees the festival as a vital platform for emerging talent. “Social media is massive now, but it’s the live gigs that sell you. Even big bands are still knocking on festival doors, sending music. As you can imagine, my inbox is absolutely packed with amazing music. We can’t programme them all, unfortunately but most go on the list for the next year.”
Balance matters too, across genres, locations, and gender representation. “We’ve broadened over the years. Some bands might not suit the tent but are perfect for An Lanntair or community halls. And we’ve always focused on local talent. Giving them that platform is amazing.”
HebCelt was an early adopter of Keychange, the international initiative promoting gender equality in music. “We actually looked back and realised we’d adhered to a 50/50 gender split before Keychange even existed. It’s important but it shouldn’t be an effort. It should just happen. When she was last with us, KT Tunstall told us that at other festivals she played, there was sometimes up to 15 names before a female appeared on the line up. She praised HebCelt for doing better which is where the quote ‘you can’t be what you can’t see’ came from. I agree with her.
This year’s lineup reflects all those values, and then some. “I’m delighted Nina Nesbitt is coming, she’s taken a more folk route recently. I’m thrilled to have Kassidy back. Eddi Reader is in my top five all-time HebCelt performances -last time I actually watched her full set without anyone interrupting me. Astro Bloc taking the trad world by storm just now, are new but the musicians aren’t, and Elias Alexander - he volunteered with us in 2014 on the tech crew. Now he’s performing. That’s a full circle moment.”
And then there’s Skerryvore. “They were a no-brainer, especially with their 20th anniversary. I’ve been speaking to Daniel and I’m so glad we made it work. Watching HebCelt grow has been amazing, and turning into the event that it is now and what we deliver now is just brilliant.”
You can listen to Michelle’s interview in full at the Good Stuff In Between podcast https://open.spotify.com/episode/54tp3FTkFrKziqQLeCzsGw?si=c6488f6c7cfe4dbe
