If you count the, sadly no more, September Hairths, I’ve already clocked up a total of 9 Knockengorrochs, which scarcely seems possible when you consider it’s a 750 mile round trip each time for me just to get there & back from Suffolk. But, despite the distance, I could never tire of this festival and in all honesty I don’t believe I’ve ever enjoyed one more than I did this year’s World Ceilidh. I’m sure I’ve waxed lyrical in previous years about what makes Knock so special. The breathtaking scenery and remoteness of the site, the constantly reliable quality of the line –up, the top quality ales from the Williams Brewery and the friendliness and all round bonkers enthusiasm of the people, so many of whom have not just become familiar faces but also close friends over the years. Plus of course it’s also where Lisa and I first met and got together so on top of everything else it’s an annual romantic pilgrimage for us.

There was very little change in the set up this year with the main Bo Airigh, Sheilling and Longhouse stages exactly as they have been for a number of years. There was the usual array of performances in the main bar tent which interspersed with the main stage acts as well as providing well attended entertainment, both on the Thursday evening and also after the main stage closed on the other nights. In fact the only noticeable change was the excellent Knock Taigh Tent tent which seemed a little larger than before and moved to a new area a little further up the hill and which had a programme of dance and workshops during the day with DJ sessions at night. The trees behind the Knock Taigh were imaginatively illuminated which is something I don’t recall seeing before.

We got to the site early on the Thursday in order to park the van in our favoured spot a little way down the track from the main site and we stayed put while several heavy hailstorms passed over. But we didn’t see any further precipitation until torrential rain set in before we left on the Monday morning. In between we had perfect festival weather with wall to wall sunshine for good periods. As a result we tended to hang around the main stage area for the majority of the time and so my photos of the artists are predominantly from the Bo Airigh stage. It was pretty chilly at night however with sub- zero temperatures on the Friday. But we Knockengorrans are hardy folk and a touch of frost isn’t going to stop us having the time of our lives in a special place which means so much to us all.