Country stars hit a high note in Halkirk
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
COUNTRY music fans from across the world descended on Halkirk at the weekend as a sellout crowd enjoyed the biggest music festival in the Far North.
Over 2500 people danced the night away to some of the genre’s biggest names at the Northern Nashville Caithness Country Music Festival.
Halkirk’s indoor riding centre was turned into the county’s version of the Grand Ole Opry as some of Nashville’s biggest names wowed the crowds.
Organisers were astounded by the response, saying the festival continues to get bigger and better every year.
Festival chairwoman Christine Gray said each of the three nights was a huge success and all the acts blew everyone away.
"Without a shadow of a doubt the NNCCMF has become one of the biggest celebrations of country music in Britain," she told the Caithness Courier.
"There is nowhere else in the UK that can offer the calibre of the line-up we had on stage.
"The proof lies in the amount of visitors we get from outside the county who come especially for the event.
"We had one woman called Shirley Fresh who travelled all the way from California just to see her idol, Johnny Rodriguez, perform.
"It was her first time in Scotland and she thought the festival was absolutely fantastic.
"We also had a large contingent from Ireland and Shetland as well as the North-east of Scotland where country music is very big."
All 700 full weekend tickets were sold out months prior to the opening night on Friday and the event closed with a sellout crowd of over 1000 on Sunday night.
Among the top acts to travel from Nashville were Moe Bandy, Joey and Rory Feek, Jerry Kilgore, and sister act Connie and Debbie Moore.
The Netherlands was represented with popular acts Ashville and the Terry White Band appearing on stage while Irish favourites Lisa McHugh and Mary B and the Family Band entertained.
Not to be outshone, the North also contributed to the success of this year’s show with Wick band The Chicken Pickers and Manson Grant and the Dynamos appearing before Slange Ava officially brought the curtain down on Sunday night.
Mrs Gray said the aim of the festival was to offer something for all tastes and ages, and believed it did not disappoint.
"Most people in Caithness are brought up on country music and there is certainly more of an appreciation for this type of music in the region," she said.
"It is also a major boost for the local economy as hotels in Thurso and the surrounding area were sold out with tourists who had come especially for the festival.
"The American acts went down a storm and they said they were astounded that something like this exists in the UK.
"They said that there are not many places even in the United States which can hold so many people under one roof especially for country music."
Talks will be held in the coming months about holding a 10th anniversary festival in 2013.
BBC ALBA was at the event for the third year running and will be broadcasting festival highlights later this year.
