The Outer Hebrides are looking to develop their international music event reputation further in 2012 after overtaking Glasgow and Edinburgh to be crowned as home of the country’s best major public festival.

The Hebridean Celtic Festival emerged victorious as Best Large Festival at the industry-sponsored Scottish Event Awards this week, in a three-way final with Edinburgh’s Hogmanay and Glasgow’s Celtic Connections.

“HebCelt” Festival Director Caroline Maclennan said today: “We will be looking forward to next year’s event and beyond with increased confidence, in the knowledge that the enthusiasm of our thousands of festival-goers and scores of volunteers is matched by professional industry recognition, despite the sheer prominence of Scotland’s higher-cost, big city festivals.”

Held in Stornoway, the HebCelt is now an annual magnet for an audience that far outstrips the Lewis town’s own 10,000 population, injecting more then £1 million annually into the local economy. Over 16 years, it has grown to feature hundreds of local performers and international acts including Van Morrison, The Proclaimers, and KT Tunstall.

Caroline Maclennan added: “Like other successful festivals, there are clear economic benefits from the HebCelt, but its local and international cultural significance is huge too and our success is a testament to our many supporters, from Creative Scotland and Comhairle nan Eilean Siar to EventScotland, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Caledonian MacBrayne and others.”

A two-time Event of the Year winner in the Scots Trad Music Awards, and twice nominated also for the Scottish Thistle Awards, the HebCelt  relies on scores of volunteer workers who clock up nearly 3000 unpaid hours during the event.

Source: Hebridean Celtic Festival