ROTHIEMURCHUS FOREST IN CAIRNGORMS NATIONAL PARK
22-24 JUNE 2007

BROCHURE RELEASED WITH FULL EVENT AND ACTIVITY PROGRAMME

The full event programme and brochure for The Outsider Festival is launched today, Thursday 10 May – six weeks before midsummer and the best weekend of the year. The Outsider is part of the celebrations for Highland 2007; the year Scotland celebrates Highland Culture. The festival is sponsored by the Scottish Executive’s It’s Our Future campaign, a public awareness drive focusing on sustainable development and environmental issues.

The programme reveals an impressive range of events for festival-goers highlighting the ambition of the organisers to ensure that The Outsider is a festival like no other. Every minute from 6pm start on Friday 22 June is packed with entertainment and activities to stimulate both the mind and body.

Within the festival arena, set in the glorious Cairngorms National Park, there will be stages and tents with an eclectic mix of cool new sounds and established rock names.

The Talisker Stage: KT Tunstall, Crowded House, Idlewild, Guillemots, Willy Mason, Eddi Reader and Capercaillie with dj’s Zak Zagarelos and Lenny Love (Vegas!). This main stage is named in reference to The Outsider’s commercial sponsor, Classic Malts.

The Planet (The Big Party Tent): Artists include Fred Deakin of Lemon Jelly, Justin Currie, Cuba’s Septeto de Tivoli, Roddy Woomble and John McKusker, The Complete Stone Roses, Roddy Hart, Shooglenifty, Make Model, Blazin’ Fiddles, Julie Fowlis, The Moonshiners, Injuns, Isa and the Filthy Tongues, Cinephile, with dj’s Ewan and Fryer, The Great Calverto, and other groovers.

The Bothy: The best in UK comedy every night as compere Karen Dunbar presents top mirth masters, Stephen K Amos, Michael McIntyre, Craig Hill, Tony Law, Kevin Bridges, Greg McHugh and Steven Davidson’s Happy Hour. And the laughs aren’t just for grown-ups as James Campbell performs his award winning ‘Comedy 4 Kids’ show.

The Tipi Village: Family fun with free daytime workshops including all day story telling, making musical instruments from recycled household waste and North Indian crafts. In addition there will be film, Yoga Bugs (for children from 2.5 years old) and a climbing wall.

The Forum: Two days of discussion and debate on the issues affecting people and the environment. The programme is announced today for the first time.

Saturday 23 is hosted by Kirsty Wark, who will chair The Outsider Conversation ‘Can we walk our green talk?’ in the Dalwhinnie Pavilion. Panellists include: Will Whitehorn who is Director of Virgin Galactic, caretaker of the Virgin brand, space tourism expert and spokesman for the UK’s best-known entrepreneur; award winning Architects Keppie Design, who designed the SNH HQ in Inverness, hitting the benchmark for best practice in sustainable commercial building and Dr Dave Reay, climate change scientist, designer, editor of the new science website and author of Climate Change Begins at Home and Greenhouse Gas Sinks. Other events taking place are a talk by Pauline Sanderson detailing her experience on the The Everestmax Journey: The grueling journey from the Dead Sea (the lowest point on the earth) to the top of Mount Everest. The Dragons’ Glen New Energy Solutions, where entrepreneurs get a chance to pitch their ideas to energy specialists is chaired by Mick Jackson - a 'serial entrepreneur’ who is now also involved in venture philanthropy as the founder of Wildhearts Foundation. The Adventure Sports Business Idea Competition is a product design competition with a £1,000 prize and Consultancy support from Fearsome Engine. The event is chaired by multi-award winning entrepreneur and designer Maeve Gillies.

Lord David Steel, former leader of the Liberal Democrat Party and first presiding officer of the Scottish Parliament, will host the forum on Sunday 24. He will chair The Outsider Conversation ‘Shaping the Future of Climate Change and Everything’. Panellists include: Jeremy Leggett (described by Time Magazine as ‘one of the key players in putting the climate issue on the world agenda’) who, before setting up Solarcentury, was an award winning scientist, oil-industry consultant, and Greenpeace campaigner; Alistair McIntosh - writer, lecturer, social activist, broadcaster and campaigning academic from the Isle of Lewis, a Fellow of the Centre for Human Ecology (CHE), a director of the Gal Gael Trust and Visiting Professor of Human Ecology at the University of Strathclyde. Other events include Inspiration From The East: a talk by Suprabha Seshan, director of the Gurukala Sanctuary in Kerala, India. Suprabha was presented with the UK’s top conservation award, the Whitely Award, in 2006 and was subsequently invited by Princess Anne to become an Ambassador for the environment. Hard Rain: A stunning slide show by Mark Edwards illustrating ‘our headlong collision with nature’ on his journey to over 150 countries. The show is described by Philip Noyce, Director of United Nations Global 500 Forum as ‘electrifying - the most moving slide presentation I have ever seen. An extraordinary experience’.

Films include the unmissable Al Gore film ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ which will be shown on both Saturday and Sunday morning. There will also be a programme of mountain bike films to prepare for the Merida Outsider which will all be screened on Friday evening.

Food Village: The organisers have sourced and selected food - most of which is organic, local, free range - which will have both taste and integrity. Suppliers include Well Hung and Tender, Stoats Porridge Bars, Johnny Baghdad’s World Food Café, Risotto to Go, Arbroath Smokies, Moray Ostrich, Speyside Organics and Juiced Up.

Unlike most festivals The Outsider will encourage the audience to get out and enjoy exploring the local environment. This can be done by bike - with one of the three Merida Mountain Bike Series routes, or a free guided bike ride from the festival; on foot - with Britain’s Most Beautiful Run; on water – river rafting down the Spey; on the edge - gorge walking, or quietly -looking for pine martins, badgers and other wildlife. There are more activity providers in the concentrated area around Rothiemurchus estate than anywhere else in Scotland and The Outsider is working with some of them to provide a wide choice of activity experiences.

On arrival festival-goers will be greeted by huge totem poles – a concept visualised by organizers Unique to symbolise The Outsider’s relationship with its landscape. The striking structures, part of a project co-organised by Unique Events and the Rothiemurchus & Glenmore Community Association (RGCA) and funded by HIE and Highland 2007, are being hand carved by the Glasgow studios of Scott Associates, a company who work with many of Scotland’s well known sculptors. The totems are being carved from fire-damaged trees felled on the Rothiemurchus Estate and depict an impressive list of the festival’s activities alongside images of the local wildlife.

This new festival will be a landmark event, celebrating and enjoying the important relationship between people, nature and the environment in the Highlands. The Outsider is funded by Highland 2007 through support from EventScotland’s International programme with the Scottish Executive’s It’s Our Future sustainable development campaign and Classic Malts acting as main sponsors. HIE Inverness and East Highland, The Highland Council, the Cairngorms National Park Authority and the Rothiemurchus Arts Community Group are also supporting the event whilst Scottish Natural Heritage and Forestry Commission Scotland are acting as location advisers.

Fiona Hampton, director of Highland 2007, says: “Highland 2007 is supporting The Outsider as part of the programme for Scotland’s year of Highland culture. There is a huge variety of events and activities listed in The Outsider festival programme launched today – from mountain biking to debates, wildlife walks to astral exploration, river safaris to environmental films to name but a few, as well as plenty of activities for children. Add some great music and the backdrop of our superb Highland scenery to give a fantastic event sure to attract a new audience to the area!”

Pete Irvine: “The Outsider has been a very long time in the making. We started talking about it two years ago; we really wanted to do something different. So we’re very pleased that today we’re finally launching a programme and a festival which is unlike anything held anywhere else and something that could only happen here in one of the most beautiful parts of Scotland.”

Johnnie Grant of Rothiemurchus: “We are delighted to be hosting the Outsider Festival for Unique Events. Rothiemurchus has always been about nature and people working together and The Outsider is welcome as an example of good practice of how we can all share and enjoy the countryside”.

Nick Carr, Global Director Classic Malts: “Classic Malts are delighted to support such an innovative and green focussed event in the home of Scotch Whisky. The personality of every one of our Classic Malts is rooted in water, barley, and the air we breathe so our commitment to the environment is embedded in everything we do. This is a fantastic opportunity and I'm sure the event and the array of activities will benefit from the huge enthusiasm and encouragement of our employees, many of whom are in the Highlands”


For further information visit www.outsiderfestival.co.uk