Twenty five acts, four days, two main stages, one big party. The 17th Hebridean Celtic Festival is held from 11-14 July 2012. There are many reasons why you should take a look, but here’s 10 to whet your appetite. The Hebridean Celtic Festival is held in the unique island setting of Stornoway in the Scottish Outer Hebrides. It attracts fans from the USA, Australia, Germany, France, Spain and Norway every year. HebCelt was voted Best Large Festival at the 2011 Scottish Event Awards, beating Edinburgh’s Hogmanay and Glasgow’s Celtic Connections. The festival has twice won the Best Event of the Year award at the MG Alba Scots Trad Music Awards. It was named as one of the UK’s top 50 festivals by the Daily Telegraph, one of the top five by The Scotsman, one of the Top Ten summer festivals by Songlines Magazine two years running and The Times called it one of the top eight cultural events in Scotland. The Big Issue said the festival was the Number One Best Thing to Do in Scotland for summer 2011. The main stages enjoy a spectacular setting in front of Lews Castle in Stornoway, with performances also in An Lanntair and throughout the rural community. The Waterboys, The Proclaimers and Kassidy are to headline the award winning HebCelt this year. Prices for a main arena weekend ticket (Thursday to Saturday) are £70 per person (£55 concession). Daily tickets range from £25 to £33 (£19 to £25 concession). A large quantity of children under 14 will be able to attend concerts at the Festival Arena each night for free if accompanied by someone who is 18 or older. Audience numbers far outstrip Stornoway’s 10,000 population. Festival-goers inject over £1.5 million annually into the local economy. It is regarded by critics, performers and festival-goers as one of the top Celtic music festivals in Europe. HebCelt line-up http://www.hebceltfest.com/festival/ Artist biographies http://www.hebceltfest.com/festival/artists/ Artist interviews http://www.hebceltfest.com/festival/interviews/ Artist photos and HebCelt imagery http://www.flickr.com/photos/hebcelt2012/ News release archive http://www.hebceltfest.com/news/ HebCelt supporters http://www.hebceltfest.com/backstage/sponsors/ How to get a media pass http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4790829/HCF%20PRESS%20ACCREDITATION%20FORM.docx How to get there http://www.hebceltfest.com/location/gethere/ HebCelt website http://www.hebceltfest.com/index.php HebCelt video http://www.youtube.com/user/hebceltfest Facebook http://www.facebook.com/pages/Hebridean-Celtic-Festival/70400006768?ref=ts Twitter http://twitter.com/#!/hebcelt/ My Space http://www.myspace.com/hebceltfest For more information contact: John Ross, Lucid PR Tel: +44 1463 724593 Mobile: +44 7730 099617 [email protected] .