This year’s HebCelt Festival was the most successful in the event’s 28-year history as its investment in new technology, infrastructure and enhanced sponsorship packages paid dividends.
Tickets for Saturday’s headliners Skerryvore sold-out, as did local fringe events, with Lulu only a handful of tickets away from achieving the same. More than 18,500 attended the festival, compared to 17,900 the previous year.
It means that festival organisers have been able to freeze 2026 early bird tickets which go on sale this Friday at the same price for the third year in a row - as a thank you to loyal fans and in recognition of ongoing cost of living challenges.
But they say it was only made achievable thanks to funding from Creative Scotland, Western Isles Council, NHS Western Isles, Culture & Business Fund Scotland and its key sponsors including long term partners Lewis Wind Power, SSEN Transmission, Isle of Harris Distillery and The Stornoway Trust.
Next year’s festival will take place between 15 to 18 July. Chair Iain Macphail said work has already begun on its build up, and the 30th anniversary event which follows in 2027.
He said: “It’s been the most successful festival in our history and is a testament to all those who have worked, volunteered and supported us in building what is essentially a pop-up village to deliver a best in class, internationally renowned event.
“Led by an inspired line-up of music, creativity at every turn and perhaps the most supportive community in the world, Stornoway and the entire Isle of Lewis can be rightfully proud of what the festival family has achieved together.
“Standing side by side with our sponsors and public funding bodies, we have invested wisely in new technology and site enhancements to improve the festival visitor experience, brand recognition, and to capture a return on investment to help sustain our efforts. We simply could not have done it without their incredible backing.
“We will reflect on everything we have achieved at this year’s festival, as we look to continue building forward towards next year and our milestone event in 2027. We are so very grateful to everyone who played a role in this year’s successes.”
Carol Ferguson, Festival Operations Co-Ordinator, said: “It’s been a very special year and we’ve been overjoyed at the feedback from people talking about what a great atmosphere there was this year, how the new canvas teepee areas brought a real warmth to the look, and how sensational the music has been.
“The weather was really kind and we saw a big increase in sales across all our bars but with much smaller queues because the investment in tap and go payment just speeded everything up. We also had more band merchandise on sale this year, that we don’t charge commission on, so it meant the artist could benefit even more too.
“We’ve put a lot of focus too on improving accessibility and welfare at the site, with relaxed concerts at our fringe events, and making everything more family friendly than ever which saw a real boost in the number of younger people coming along for what in many cases was their first major festival, and the town itself was absolutely buzzing. ” . HebCelt is now the third biggest music festival in Scotland behind TRNSMT and Belladrum which takes place next weekend, excluding the powerhouse cultural showcases of Celtic Connections, Summer Sessions and Edinburgh Festival.
Almost 60 performances took place across three stages in the main arena, at arts centre An Lanntair itself celebrating 40 years, Breasclete and Hebrides People Visitor Centre, Stornoway Town Hall and Perceval Square.
Bar takings were up around 10%, with some 6000 pints of lager alone sold on the festival site over the four days. At its peak around 450 volunteers and paid workers were involved in the festival operation which last year was worth an estimated £4.1m to the local economy.
Headline acts Tide Lines, Lulu and Skerryvoreled the way, with stand-out performances by Elias Alexander, Nina Nesbitt, Laura Silverstone, Ruairidh Gray, El Sartel, Kassidy, Josie Duncan, and The Tumbling Souls.
Eddi Reader, Willie Campbell, Skerryvore and An Lanntair’s cultural chief Alex Macdonald all received their HebCelt Hall of Fame Awards too across the four-day celebration after being inducted in the run up to this year’s festival.
Michelle Shields, Artist Programmer, said: “The exceptional talent performing at this year’s HebCelt was simply world class, and we’re overjoyed at the reception they got, with fans snapping up tickets right up to the very last minute.
“Sold out events, Hall of Fame celebrations, platforming some truly amazing new talent particularly providing a stage to up and coming local musicians and the Gàidhlig language.
“It was a real mix of styles which will have hopefully inspired so many people in different ways. We cannot wait to confirm our special guests for next summer’s festival - it's going to be outstanding.”
Around 70% of those performing had a female lead or female member in the line-up. Amid the huge crowds HebCelt also lived up to its fun loving and family friendly reputation with zero arrests recorded.
Early bird tickets for next year go on sale this Friday at 10am at https://www.hebceltfest.com/booking
