A new BBC podcast will chart the rise and fall of T in the Park festival, once the jewel in the crown of Scotland’s music scene.
Radio 1 DJ Arielle Free plans to take listeners of her new show on a nostalgic trip back to the festival’s heyday of bucket hats and megastars.
Arielle, who attended the festival as a teenager, will hear from organisers, artists and some of those who made the annual pilgrimage to watch some of the biggest acts in the world.
Once a rite of passage for Scottish teens, the festival ran for 17 years at the disused Balado airfield in Perth and Kinross.
Hundreds of hitmakers including Ed Sheeran (2014) Mumford and Sons (2013), Beyoncé (2011), Oasis (2002), Stereophonics (1997) and Robbie Williams (1998), descended on the rural Kinross site over the years.
T in the Park’s long association with Kinross came to an end in 2014, with safety fears over the Forties Pipeline, which runs underneath the airfield, prompting a move to Strathallan Castle Estate in 2015.
As well as the festival’s success, the series also delves into the decline of T in the Park, attempting to answer why it came to end in 2017 after the previous year was marred by the deaths of three festival-goers.
Arielle Free said: “Like so many Scottish teens, I remember experiencing T in the Park and having an unforgettable weekend.
“I can’t wait to take Radio 1 listeners back to the heyday of the festival and relieve its illustrious 22 years as I reveal behind-the-scenes secrets and uncover the real reason why T in the Park is no longer around.”
The first four episodes of Rise and Fall of T in the Park is available on BBC Sounds, with the next four available on July 18.
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