Flooded fans at Belladrum evacuated in rafts

Torrential rain dampens Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival 2011

Chris Eustace - 08 August 2011

Heavy rain on Thursday and Friday had already soaked the site at the Italian Gardens in Inverness, before torrential downpours on Saturday night and early Sunday morning saw some parts of the site begin to flood. 

Organisers then woke campers to warn them and Red Cross volunteers and staff then helped turn one of the performance tents on higher ground into a makeshift evacuation centre. With parts of the festival site under inches of water, specialist 4x4s and a swift water rescue team using inflatable rafts took more than 60 people to the centre by 5am.

Ian Rideout, Red Cross operations director for Northern Scotland, said: “The fields at Belladrum were already soaked after heavy rain on Thursday and Friday. A series of torrential showers overnight on Saturday and into this morning saturated the ground, causing localised flooding."

“The festival ended last night [Saturday] and those still camping are heading home today [Sunday]. Roads in the area are passable but many vehicles on the festival site are bogged down, stranding their owners."

It's believed that many festivalgoers were stuck at the site until well into Sunday.

Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival saw performances from the the likes of Ed Sheeran, Guillemots and Anna Calvi, with Texas and Deacon Blue headlining the event.

Comments

Related Artists

Related Events

Related Articles