How a Scottish island music festival where trad and techno meet took on the world

It is where ancient and traditional Gaelic sounds meet with techno and electronic beats against the stunning backdrop of a Scottish island, and the up-for-it crowd drive the energy long into the light nights over a long weekend in May.

Skye Live Festival will soon mark its 10th year and it is an anniversary that organisers never thought they would be preparing for. For years, the founders made nothing on their bold musical venture on their home patch, where Gaelic bands like Sian and Talisk appear on the bill alonsgside DJs and producers such as Optimo (Espacio), Denis Sulta and Lord of the Isles.

Now, as the 10th party comes into view, there is plenty to celebrate, said Niall Munro, 34, founder and co-festival director.

READ MORE: Skye: The Scottish island that embraced the rave

He said: “In 2015, it was a total leap of faith: we had no roadmap and no guarantees. For the first five, six years, we never sold out and we never made a penny. We had nights where we were running around putting up posters ourselves, sending emails at midnight, trying to get people to take a chance on what we were doing. It was a real labour of love. But we just weren’t willing to let it go.

“Now it’s the 10th anniversary, and I can’t believe we’ve made it this far.”

Niall Munro and Michael Pelligrotti, co-directors of Skye Live. | Contributed

While the mix of music pushed by Skye Live might “seem completely at odds”, they were, in fact, connected on a deep level.

Mr Munro said: “There is something primal about both of them.

“They're both beat-driven and there’s lots of energy. The loops in trad are actually quite similar to electronic music. You can kind of just get lost in the music and where better to get lost in one of the most beautiful places in the world.”

When the festival started, bands like Elephant Sessions and Talisk were playing tiny stages. Now they are selling out the Barrowlands. The festival has allowed artists to take risks, to experiment and create something new, Mr Munro said.

“We’re proud that you can trace the rise of modern trad alongside Skye Live,” he added.

Trad supergroup Skerryvore at their packed-out Skye Live show in 2024. | Contributed

He described the move to expand the festival and move it to King George’s Park in Portree in 2016 as almost “the end of the festival”, with a bigger line-up not generating the bigger ticket sales needed to support the event.

He added: “Moving back to The Lump the following year was one of the best decisions we ever made. The setting is crucial to what Skye Live is – when you're looking out over the water, with the Cuillins in the background, it doesn’t feel like any other festival. The location is as much a part of the experience as the music."

Big ticket acts including Mercury Prize nominees Django Django, Highland folk supergroup Session A9 and Eigg-based Pictish Trail started building the festival’s profile and a major milestone came in 2019 when The Waterboys performed an “epic” comeback gig on the Thursday night.

Niteworks, the electronic fusion band from Isle of Skye, hold Skye Live in the palm of their hands. PIC: Ryan Buchanan. | Ryan Buchanan

Paradoxically, it was when the world went into lockdown that the festival’s profile flew, with video streams of musicians performing against some of the most stunning locations on the island—the Quiraing, the Cuillins, and the Old Man of Storr - reaching more than one million viewers.

Co-festival director Michael Pelligrotti said: “Covid could have been the end of the festival. But we decided that if people couldn’t come to Skye, we’d take Skye to them. That’s where the idea of the livestream came from. We filmed artists performing

“Something magic happened. It blew up. The response was unbelievable. By the time we announced the next festival, we were selling out faster than ever before. It proved what we always knew – Skye Live isn’t just about the music, it’s about this place. That’s what makes it special."

Skye Live Festival runs this year from Thursday, May 8 to Sunday, May 11.