Organisers of a Courier Country music favourite are keen to avoid making any hasty decisions on its staging this summer.
As it stands at the moment, the Doune the Rabbit Hole festival’s scheduled for Thursday August 12 to Sunday August 15 — but that’s subject to as-yet unpublished government guidance on live events as pandemic restrictions potentially start to ease.
The family-friendly festival has steadily grown in size and reputation since starting out in 2010, and its 11th edition — initially cancelled last year — includes big names Dizzee Rascal, Sleaford Mods, Camera Obscura and Teenage Fanclub.
Formerly held near Doune in Old Perthshire, it has moved a few miles west in recent years to Cardross Estate at Port of Menteith.
With Rewind Scotland bosses pulling the plug on their late-July Scone Palace bash last month, and its retro rival Dun-Dee 80s — staged for the one and only time at Slessor Gardens in August 2019 — having failed to re-emerge following its belated axing in 2020, just Rabbit Hole and the inaugural Party in the Park in Perth on August 21-22 remain as the region’s festival possibilities this summer.
To give it at least a fighting chance, the Cardross event’s been pushed back by four weeks to mid-August, with organisers confirming all five of its stages will be open air in light of restrictions.
Many of the confirmed DTRH artists were also originally due to play the cancelled event, but some on 2020’s roster haven’t been able to commit this time around, among them planned headliners Belle And Sebastian and ex-Velvet Underground legend John Cale.
The good news, however, is both have already confirmed their availability for 2022.
The line-up looks promising
A glance at the festival’s schedule reveals its opening night on August 12 has headline appearances from grime chart-topper Dizzee Rascal and Charlatans frontman Tim Burgess, who’ll be performing a DJ set.
The festival’s first full day on August 13 is headed up by art-rock veterans 10cc and East Midlands spoken word rap-ranters Sleaford Mods, alongside the likes of Scottish singing luminary Eddi Reader, punk survivors The Rezillos and all-female post-punk revivalists Goat Girl.
There’s a bumper line-up on the Saturday featuring pop-punk legends The Buzzcocks, Glasgow outfit Camera Obscura, electro combo Utah Saints, soul funksters Earth, Wind And Fire Experience, indie purveyors Bis and Honeyblood, folk icon Peggy Seeger, krautrockers Snapped Ankles and folk-rock faves Tidelines and Elephant Sessions.
It all concludes on the Sunday with closing sets from jangle exponents Teenage Fanclub, The Bluebells and The Pastels, plus Celtic fusion troupe Peatbog Faeries, Welsh songbird Charlotte Church and Afrobeat duo Sacred Paws.
While huge uncertainty still surrounds the potential lifting of restrictions on the live music industry, it hasn’t stopped online crooks from attempting to con unsuspecting festival-goers.
Rabbit Hole stars Sleaford Mods have taken to Facebook in recent days to alert fans to sightings of a fake social media account in their name that’s been offering non-existent discounted DTRH tickets.
“It’s a scam, so if you see it, please report it,” the anti-establishment duo are urging their followers.
Waiting for insurance clarity
Festival director Jamie Murray said measures designed to ramp up safety are due to be revealed next month in accordance with anticipated fresh advice.
“Unfortunately, the UK government has yet to back an insurance scheme for events, and has not published any official guidelines for how live events will be required to operate in the wake of Covid-19, but these are expected to be provided by mid-June following their test events,” he declared.
“Our change in date from July to August allows time for an insurance scheme to be drawn up and for the guidelines to be published. We’re fully aware that the festival may still yet need to be postponed until 2022.”
If DTRH is put off, punters can roll their tickets over to next year. More details at dounetherabbithole.co.uk
