Music fans poured into Falkland Estate as beautiful weather greeted the start of the three-day Big Tent Festival on Friday.
Around 10,000 people are expected to flock to the environment and music festival over the weekend and those eager to enjoy the party were entertained by a musical line-up on Friday night, headlined by local favourite King Creosote.
The fifth event was opened by Gambian campaigner Adelaide Sosseh, Falkland Centre for Stewardship transitional steward Neil Anderson and Scotland’s climate change minister Stewart Stevenson.
Adelaide, co-chairwoman of the Global Call To Action Against Poverty, is due to speak at the festival today with Malcolm Fleming of Oxfam Scotland.
Mr Stevenson said that the family-friendly festival brings people from across Scotland together to discuss making society greener.
He said, “The Big Tent festival is not only a fantastic forum for that debate, but it is also a chance for everyone involved to really enjoy themselves sampling all the festival has to offer.
“We will only reach Scotland’s world leading climate change targets if we work together — and events like these are a really important way to make that happen.”
Big Tent was conceived in response to the G8 Summit in Gleneagles in 2005 and Mr Anderson likened it to “education by stealth.”
He said, “It’s a green festival with music as opposed to a music festival with a green wash.
“People come and walk around and see things and slowly absorb some of the information.”
The festival is a flagship event of Fife’s Year of Culture and Mr Anderson said, “In terms of the local economy, we are putting in a lot of money. Hopefully people will come and see Fife, think what a wonderful place it is and come back.”
One of this year’s highlights is sure to be Sunday’s performance by Rosanne Cash.
As well as the music, this year’s extended site features a host of stalls and tents offering entertainment, foods and goods, with a strong emphasis on local produce.
For full details, see www.bigtentfestival.co.uk.