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| Location(s) | Belhaven Park, Wishaw, Scotland, United Kingdom |
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| Years active | 2008-present |
| Founded by | Wishaw Patch Voice, Friends of Belhaven |
| Date(s) | August |
| Genre | Rock music, pop, alternative rock, indie rock, dance, electronic music, hip hop, pop punk. |
| Website | Official Website |
Be in Belhaven is an annual music festival which takes place in Scotland at Belhaven Park, a public park in the town centre of Wishaw, North Lanarkshire. The first Be in Belhaven festival took place on 2 August 2008. The event is run by the Be in Belhaven Planning Group, an amalgamation of local volunteer groups, Wishaw Patch Voice and Friends of Belhaven, as a free charity event with donations on the day of the event going to a chosen charity. The main beneficiary being Maggie's Cancer Centers In Particular Maggie's Lanarkshire Interim service at Wishaw General Hospital. [1]
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In the Autumn of 2007, Friends of Belhaven, a Belhaven Park community group, approached Wishaw Patch Voice, a local youth group known locally for running music events, about providing live music for a family fun day. As one thing led to another, the family funday became a fully fledged music festival.
The event rook place on 2 August and was run as a Music Festival and a Family Funday.[2] Along with the Main Stage there was also an Acoustic Tent run by the Foundry Music Lab, a Recording studio run by Wet Wet Wet guitarist Graeme Duffin. There was also many activities put on for young children in a bid to attract people along early in the day with the music becoming the main focus later in the day. Headliners for the event were Glasgow girl band The Hedrons who, having already had chart success, was seen as a real coup. Negotiations with other chart acts The Holloways and The Rumble Strips had broken down. 34 other bands also played the event including tribute act, The Underground Jam and local bands such as Rocketfox, The Lafontaines, The Down & Outs, The Jackanoorys, Station Sound, The Seventeenth Century and Opportunity Club [3]
The event turned out to be a much greater success than anticipated, attracting over 6000 people on the day and raising £2500 for Oxfam, making it the largest Oxjam ever at that point in time.[4]
Additionally the event was seen a success by the local community and police force and heralded as a "modern take on the gala day". Despite there being a large number of people on site along with a licenced bar, there was no incidents in the park.[5]
After the overwhelming success of the 2008 festival, there was demand to stage it as an annual event. Plans were put in place in late 2008 and the decision was made to keep the event in Belhaven Park despite the inevitable increase in size off the event. At an early stage management of local establishment The Commercial Hotel got on board as a main sponsor of the event, handling the bars and catering.[6] Feedback suggested that the event be kept as to local bands thus keeping the community vibe, although 2008 favourites, The Underground Jam, were invited back to close the event. This led to auditions for the main stage being held with the hope of uncovering some hidden gems in the local community, one band that turned up chancing their luck actually opened the festival. The Foundry Music Lab ran a new stage while Aromas Cafe took over the acoustic tent.[7]
Be in Belhaven 2009 took place on Saturday, 15 August.[8] In addition to the music and funday events there was also a community learning village, fun fair attractions, Dance tent and a chainsaw carver.
Over 50 acts performed on 3 stages over the day, raising money for Oxfam and Maggies Centres.[9] The acts included Still Vintage, The Underground Jam, The Lafontaines, Tempercalm, MakethisRelate, Dear Stars guitarist Stephen Archieblad's former band Midas, The Jackanoorys, Station Sound, Crossfire and Annie Stevenson.[7] Wet Wet Wet guitarist Graeme Duffin made a special appearance in the Foundry Music Lab Arena alongside JJ Gilmour, of The Silencers fame. The event was once again more successful than anticipated as over 10,000 people and went on to raise around £6000 for charity.
Be in Belhaven returned for a third year in 2010 on the 7th August. Maggies Cancer Centres became the sole beneficiary of the event for the first time. The practical side of the event didn't vary much from the 2009 event other than a bigger bar area and a much larger main stage.
Even more act's than before performed at the event, this time around 65. Among these acts were headliners Thee Beatles, a Beatles tribute act, local heroes Crossfire, Leeds boys The Stella Frays, The Lafontaines, MakethisRelate, and Vigo Thieves.Wet Wet Wet guitarist Graeme Duffin made a special appearance in the Foundry Music Lab Arena playing with family members under the guise of The Duffins. The event was regarded as a success as around 10,000 people attended the event on the day.
After three successful years, Be in Belhaven returns to cement its place as North Lanarkshire's biggest annual festival. The event is due to take place on Saturday 13 August.
Funding for the events has been provided by multiple sources including North Lanarkshire Council, The Big Lottery Fund and Municiple Bank.
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