Montrose Music Festival is a Scottish music festival which takes place at the end of May in Montrose, Angus. It has become a much anticipated, annual event across Scotland. The festival committee is a non-profit, volunteer run organisation, dedicated to promoting free live music of all styles and genres, and at all levels, in Montrose and surrounding areas. The festival actively promotes local acts as well as hosting musicians from across the United Kingdom. It has become successful locally, winning the Pride of Angus Award in 2008.[1]
| Location(s) | Montrose, Scotland, United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Years active | 2008 - present |
| Date(s) | Late May - Early June |
| Genre | Rock, Pop, folk |
| Website | http://www.montrosemusicfestival.co.uk/ |
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The first Montrose Music Festival took place over the weekend of Friday 31 May - Sunday 1 June 2008[2] and was an overwhelming success[3][4], bringing thousands of visitors and an estimated £500,000 boost to the local economy[5]. The main attraction of the inaugural festival was the Friday night opening concert by the legendary Average White Band, regarded by many as the perfect band to open the first festival because of Montrose's connection with original AWB saxophonist's Malcolm Duncan (musician).
During the Saturday and Sunday, the music moved into the pubs and hotels with over 60 free entry gigs over the two days, with acts of varying genres entertaining thousands of music fans. Amongst these acts were: Highly respected harmonica player Fraser Speirs, Award winning Scottish folk band Malinky, Young English Singer/songwriter Joni Fuller and upcoming Oxford based alt-rock band Lights Action.
The 2009 festival took place over the weekend from Thursday 28 to Sunday 31 May. Building on the success of the 2008 festival, organisers booked Scottish band, Deacon Blue to headline the 2009 festival[10]. Demand for the opening concert was so high that the tickets were sold out within 20 minutes[11].