This year’s Southern Fried Festival has been hailed as the best ever by organisers.
Standing ovations were the norm across the board at Perth Concert Hall, beginning with headline performances by the Punch Brothers and Rhiannon Giddens.
Even the damp weather on Saturday afternoon could not dampen the enthusiasm for the outdoor stage as Red Sky July, the New Madrids, Boogalusa and Celtic Connections award winners the Chaplins all performed to large crowds.
Another hit was the all-female show the Songs of Dolly Parton, which celebrated the songs and influence of the queen of country. House band, bluegrass quintet Della Mae, backed an array of vocal talent brought together especially for the event.
Festival director Andy Shearer said: “Artistically, in terms of the quality of the artists and the shows, I think it has been the best ever. The audience has been really receptive from the start. They always are but it seems to have been at a different level this year.
“It becomes a circular thing as the artists pick up on the audience and everything goes to greater heights.
“It has been great to see the regulars but there have been lots of new faces as well.”
And his highlight? “The Dolly show because we don’t do it every year.
“It’s been three years since we put a show together at the festival for the festival. It is a lot of extra work and extra stress but it was worth it as the girls in the show were incredible.”