The first ever Hidden Gem Festival has been hailed a momentous success by the people of Dumfries as hundreds of locals pack out pubs on Saturday 14th September. Dumfries Town Centre came alive with free live music across some of the best venues the town has to offer.
Hidden Gem Festival is a free to attend music festival which took over Dumfries pubs on the 14th September 2024. Saturday’s festival saw hundreds of members of the local community rally together to support live music in some of the town’s staple venues.
Hidden Gem Festival is a concept created by organiser Cerys Cooper. The festival aims to help promote grassroots venues, artists and bring the local community closer together – and Saturday’s festival did just that.
The day was set across 4 of the town’s venues including: Riverside Tap, Coach and Horses, The Douglas Arms and White Hart. A total of 14 acts graced the stages across the day.
The festival kicked off with a launch event at Riverside tap, including live music from local young band RHELM, and the pouring of the first pint of ‘Riverside Rocks’, the specially brewed festival beer made in collaboration with Beer Without Borders. Andrew from Riverside Tap told us, “Riverside Rocks is a 4% easy drinking Pale Ale. It is the first of many planned collaborative ventures with Borderlands Brewery in the new Beer Without Borders brewery we are in the process of setting up in Dumfries.” The festival beer was a huge success with the limited run being sold out by 5:30pm.
The festival closed in the early hours of Sunday morning, with crowds dancing to Hello?Disco in the Douglas Arms until the music came to an end.
The day saw a mix of local and national talent with the line up including Dave Against the Machine at Coach and Horses, Palliro at Riverside Tap and The High Priestess in White Hart, alongside Glaswegian punk band Soapbox. Liv, the singer from The High Priestess, told us it was “the best night we’ve had in a long, long time, we can’t wait to see what happens next.”
The festival aims to encourage local musicians to perform on home turf while showcasing Dumfries as a music destination to both artists and audiences across Scotland.
Hidden Gem aspires to become an annual featured event in Dumfries and Galloway’s cultural calendar, with this year’s pilot festival just a taste of what is to come. With packed out venues across the town, at all hours of the day, there is only room for expansion for next year’s event. The feedback received from Saturday’s festival indicates that there is a real thirst for live music in Dumfries and Galloway, and Hidden Gem is going to be a long lasting staple within the Dumfries community.
The festival is supported by UP YER AIRTS movement to pitch Dumfries and Galloway as a touring destination for musicians embarking on their national tours and are keen to support young artists, managers, technicians and more. UP YER AIRTS are delighted to support Hidden Gem Festival and were thrilled to see the event’s success on Saturday.
Hidden Gem Festival welcomes further support from local organisations to bring music back to the heart of Dumfries, as they start work on next year’s festival. Music lovers, pub goers and everyone else in between, Hidden Gem has something for everyone.
The festival would like to thank everyone who played a part in the weekend.
To find out more information visit www.hiddengemfestival.com or Hidden Gem Festival on Facebook.
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