A CELEBRATION of roots music with a heavy celtic flavour is coming to the Carsphairn Hills south of New Cumnock next week.

Knockengorroch, the ‘World Ceilidh in the Hills’, will be taking place from Thursday, May 19 through to Sunday, May 22.

Beginning life as the Ceilidh Gall Gallowa’ Festival in the Summer of 1998, the festival was renamed the Hairth festival and has been called Knockengorroch for some years now, after the farmland on which it takes place.

The festival will feature 2020 Scottish Album of the Year award winning rapper, Nova; African/Gaelic electro outfit, Afro Celt Soundsystem; London rapper Lowkey; Edinburgh-based singer and multi-instrumentalist Callum Easter; and many more.

More than 70 acts will play across the event’s eight stages, treating revellers to an explosion of different cultural sounds and styles.

Set in the stunning Southern Uplands, and with the early weather forecast looking promising, it could be a spectacular weekend for those planning on heading down to Knockengorroch.

As well as music, there will be a series of workshops on offer every morning from 9am, which continue throughout the day. The music begins at midday and hardened dancefloor warriors can keep stepping until 5am, when the music stops.

On site, festivalgoers can choose to pitch up a tent, or stay in one of the festival’s yurts, which are handcrafted by Red Kite Yurts. There are also spaces for motorhomes/campervans to park up for the duration of the festival.

The festival site borders the Water of Deugh, which snakes through the glen on its way to the Water of Ken. It’s 10 miles away from the nearest development so getting to and from the venue will be difficult for some – but the organisers are running a ‘Knock Bus’ from Glasgow and Edinburgh to help city-dwellers get to the site.

A statement on the festival’s website reveals more of what the festival’s all about: “Knockengorroch Festivals were born from a love of the land, excellent roots music and celebrating the good times.

“We present unparalleled music, arts and workshops in a beautiful mountain riverside meadow.

“For us location is key. We are one of the most beautiful and unique festival venues in the UK. Our festival commemorates and celebrates the history and the people that once lived in our valley, in former times an entire village…

“We are a festival run by a family, for families, in the very broadest sense of the word. We support rural regeneration in the Uplands of Scotland, creating local business and enterprise, and attracting visitors to a still surprisingly relatively unexplored region of Scotland, our ‘Hidden Gem’.

“We also know how to party.”