Joint statement regarding Green

2nd Aug 2019

The 2019 HebCelt has been widely acclaimed as another great success. Feedback from artists and audience members has been extremely positive and MSP Alasdair Allan has lodged a motion in the Scottish Parliament praising the festival for its economic, cultural, social and environmental importance.

The success and growth of the festival over the past 24 years has been built on community engagement and partnership working and we thank everyone involved in their part in making that possible.

We rely heavily on our team of volunteers and on our strong relationships with the Stornoway Trust and Comhairle nan Eilean Siar to ensure the event runs smoothly, safely and for everyone’s enjoyment.

We are grateful to the Trust for making provision to allow HebCelt to take place this year during major project works it is undertaking in and around the festival site. However it became apparent that the unanticipated impact of historic drainage, revealed under the works, further exacerbated by the recent heavy rainfall affected the festival’s ability to leave the area in the usual clean and tidy manner.

The festival has over the years demonstrated clearly its appreciation of its environment and has won a number of awards for its management of the site. We, therefore, are determined to work with our partners to ensure that the Castle Green is fully reinstated as soon as possible leaving it better able to host next year’s 25th anniversary event.