Festival review: Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival

LIKE Wickerman at the opposite end of the country, the Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival has quietly established itself as a bijou, family-friendly alternative to Scotland's big commercial summer shindigs. This year's festival was more confident than ever in its identity, striking a nice balance between chilled-out ambience and colourful party atmosphere, with punters encouraged to dress up around an Alice In Wonderland theme, and the site itself prettily kitted out with illuminated hearts festooning the trees.

A great deal of love and effort has gone into the programming of diverse attractions, from the Tir Na Nog kids' area to the Hielan Fields of alternative therapies. Literature and debate were represented in the Verb Garden and Writer's Cramp tents; there were DJs in the battlements of Mother's Ruin (literally an old ruin turned into a clubbing zone) and the Venus Flytrap stage hosted performance by tribute bands - including Maybe Winehouse - and late night "karauke" sessions with live backing tracks supplied by a troupe of fine ukulele players.

From the Headphone Disco at one end of the site to the strolling Shakespearean players in the stone pavilion at the other extreme, Belladrum was alive with quirky distractions. The musical bill was more of a patchwork affair, but there were a couple of gems stowed away on the smaller stages.

Veteran performers The Wailers and Candi Staton showed the younger main stage headliners Feeder and Amy MacDonald a thing or two about how to get a festival crowd on side - thought to be fair when you can offer songs of the calibre of Three Little Birds and Young Hearts Run Free, half the work is already done.

KT Tunstall was the not-so-secret special guest on Friday, showcasing new material from her forthcoming album Tiger Suit alongside old favourites such as Black Horse And The Cherry Tree.

Earlier in the day, solo raver Unicorn Kid caused a teenage Highland rampage on the Hothouse Stage, while Saturday kicked off with the infectious energy and nifty footwork of hip-hop trio Young Fathers.

King Creosote and his band brought the day to a close on the Grassroots Stage with a well-judged ruckus of a set, but the highlight of the festival was supercool sibling trio Kitty, Daisy & Lewis, joined by dad Graeme on guitar and mum Ingrid on double bass for a riveting musical timewarp encompassing 1950s rockabilly, ska, bluegrass and country swing sounds.