Doune The Rabbit Hole is set to be held on August 22-24, its fifth year running, and making a second return to the beautiful Cardross Estate in Stirlingshire, Scotland. The small-scale music and arts festival aims to offer a friendlier alternative to larger events by creating a fantastically unique atmosphere and offering visitors the chance to take part in a variety of activities and workshops that will appeal to the whole family.
This year will see sets from headliners Peatbog Faeries, Acid Mother’s Temple, Jeffrey Lewis as well as Balkanarama Klub who will present several hours of arts and crafts workshops followed by the kind of party that only the Balkans can produce.
Many of the artists will be hosting workshops or master-classes at the event with the focus of the festival angled towards getting people involved. From weird and wonderful instruments including Synths, Theremins and The Musical Saw, through to more traditional Fiddle, Keyboard and Drums; there will be a chance for everyone to pick up a new skill. It’s not all music: pottery, knitting, crocheting and a variety of other workshops will be on offer. Not to mention the Spoken Word tent which will host poetry, stand-up and storytelling and the Cinema which will show a range of films from family friendly flicks through to life-changing documentaries and even a late-night horror session.
This year the festival is also reviving the age-old practice of bartering for useful items, in exchange for festival tickets. Organisers need a caravan, tents, yurts, generators, lights, furniture and decorations. The festival website now includes a ‘Barter’ page, allowing anyone to either trade or lend something in return for tickets: dounetherabbithole.co.uk/barter
The festival is run by volunteers who are committed to making the weekend the most memorable of the summer. Festival goers can also help run the event and are particularly encouraged to join in with the workshops over the weekend, connecting with musicians and other artists to learn about their work.
Doune the Rabbit Hole artistic director Jamie Murray said: “You’d be surprised how many people have an old caravan kicking about that they don’t know what to do with. If they aren’t using it and would like a free festival ticket or two then we’d be very happy to do a trade”.
“We need people’s help to make this the best event we possibly can. Likewise, there are loads of things that we could use for the weekend to help make the site look good and we’re very happy to offer festival tickets to repay people’s contributions”.
“It just seems like a nice, efficient and simple way of operating, which builds a great community feel to the event”.
Full weekend camping tickets:
Adults (over-17s) £72 in advance or £90 at the gate
Youngsters (13-16 inclusive) £35
Children (12 and under) FREE
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