The Creetown Country Ceilidh Festival made a return to the region after a few years absence, over the May Day Bank Holiday weekend. This time the festival brought a mixture of country & ceilidh music to wow the crowds.
The re-vamped festival show-cased ten bands over the weekend of £rd,4th and 5th of May, with some amazing country & ceilidh music talents. Friday evening saw the Haley Sisters, on the circuit from 1989, the Chitterybite Ceilidh Band from the central belt of Scotland and Shaun Loughrey & the Countrysiders from Co. Fermanagh.
A full-days entertainment on Saturday saw the children’s entertainment of a bouncy castle, a giant slide & an inflatable assault course as well as circus skills courtesy of Douglas the Magic Clown. The Paula Herries Highland Dancers laid on a display for all. In the main marquee, the duo Stateline from Glasgow kicked of the music & dancing from 2pm. They were followed by the Latest Flame from Wigton in Cumbria, local band Kippy & Co, then the traditional Scottish & country ceilidh band the Chitterybite Ceilidh Band once again. The evening was rounded off around midnight after ten hours of music by county duo Back2Country.
Into day three on Sunday, the plan was to supply live music from 1pm to 5pm. The very talented singer / songwriter Katee Kross and her band from Bishopbriggs kicked off the day. Next on stage was the blues & country folk band Delta Smoak, followed by Creetown Country Music Festival stalwart Pete Kirk from Kirkcudbright. The Festival was brought to a close at 8pm with local bank Kippy & Co.
Jim Pearson from the Shetlands, a regular attender of Creetown Country Music Festival said; “I used to come with a group of around twelve friends and saddened when the original festival ended. When I heard it was starting again, I gathered five friends to come along. It was well organised and very welcoming with some excellent acts. It was well worth travelling 300 miles and we will be back in 2020.”
Pete Kirk, one of the acts playing added; “Great things are happening again bringing life to the local community. I have played at all Creetown Country Music Festival either with my band Southern Cross or as a solo act. There was great mixture of diverse music styles and a high quality of musicianship. The organising committee should be rightly proud of what they have achieved.”
A spokesperson from the Creetown Country Ceilidh Festival added; “We formed as a committee in October 2018 because many were keen to bring country back to Creetown. We are absolutely overwhelmed by the success & support we have had over the weekend, it has been truly amazing. We would like to thank everyone who has sponsored the event, our main sponsors the Holywood Trust & Killgallioch Community Benefit Fund, but most of all everyone who attended over the three days making the first CCCF very special. We will see you all in 2020.”
Organisers have confirmed that the festival will return next year on the 1st- 3rd May 2020
Images and article – credit – Andrew Hay
