Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival says its 2026 edition helped generate more than £265,000 in donations and support for charities and community groups across the Highlands. A further £20,000 in grant funding takes the festival’s community investment for 2026 to more than £285,000.
That total also takes the amount raised for local causes since 2024 past £575,000. The work was recognised in September, when Belladrum won Corporate Community Impact at the Highland Business Awards, organised by the Inverness Chamber of Commerce. Marketing manager Cairan Macleod and festival co-ordinator Naomi Hollas collected the award. The category, sponsored by Sumitomo Electric U.K. Power Cables Ltd, honours businesses that make a difference beyond their day to day operations.
Hollas said Belladrum is “built on community and coming together”, and that the team is grateful to use the platform for so many causes. “Every donated ticket, charity stall and car parking purchase helps us support the people and places that make the Highlands and wider Scotland so special,” she said. “Winning at the Highland Business Awards was a real honour, and we’ll keep giving back, for years to come.”
Each year the team donates free market stall spaces to charities and local organisations, offers free online promotion for fundraising, and gifts more than 200 weekend tickets so groups can raise money. Groups that benefited from this year’s ticket donations include Kiltarlity Village Hall, Mikeysline, Highland Action for Little Ones, Anthony Nolan, Macmillan Cancer Support and Sophie’s Story. Nurseries, primary schools and secondary schools also received tickets, using them for raffles, summer fetes and other fundraising through the year.
On top of the £265,000 raised through donated tickets, stalls and charity partnerships, Belladrum distributed £20,000 through the Belladrum Community Trust. The new trust is ring fenced for communities local to the festival. This is the first round of funding, with further grants due shortly. The money comes from car parking ticket sales, first introduced in 2024.
Kirkhill Primary School used its grant to cover transport for a school trip. Sara Cockburn, P7 teacher and principal teacher, said the grant “was such a help”. She said the school wants pupils to have the best possible experiences, but transport costs are a huge barrier. “Receiving this grant enabled all of our P6 and P7 pupils to access our trip to the Scottish Parliament and Dynamic Earth in Edinburgh.”
Belladrum also names an official charity partner each year. In 2026 that partner was Cantraybridge College. Highland Hospice has been announced as the official charity partner for 2027, a year that marks 40 years of hospice care in the Highlands. For almost 40 years the hospice has provided care, support and advice to people living with a terminal illness, approaching the end of life, or experiencing bereavement, including bereavement services for people of all ages.
The festival began in 2004 as a one day event on the historic Belladrum Estate, about 20 minutes from Inverness, with tickets for 2,000 people. More than two decades on, it is a three day celebration of music, arts and Highland hospitality, drawing crowds of up to 24,500 people a day. Organisers describe it as proudly home grown in the Highlands.
Belladrum returns from Thursday 29 July to Saturday 31 July 2027. James, Fatboy Slim and Amy Macdonald are the first headliners, with more than 300 further artists still to be announced. Tickets are on sale now via tartanheartfestival.gigantic.com. More information is at tartanheartfestival.com.
Image credits: Daniel Forsyth, Callum Mackay
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