MugStock is the latest boutique arts and music festival struggling to attract crowds. It announced a drive to boost ticket sales or face closure, with festival organisers setting a target of 600 new orders in the next seven days to ensure the festival goes ahead on Friday 4 August–Monday 7 August. 

Major acts like Idlewild, Craig Charles, Rachel Sermanni, Beardyman, Siobhan Wilson and more will play the family-friendly festival during the August bank holiday weekend alongside activities like laughter yoga, street food, treasure hunts and walkabout performers.

Festival director Johnny Stormonth-Darling says ‘since securing the gorgeous site at Strathallan Castle at the tail end of 2019 as MugStock’s new home, we’ve been dreaming of putting on the best event we can muster, for no reason better than the simple joy of bringing good people together in a spectacular location to have a great time. The line-up is solid, the location gorgeous, the dogs cute, the activities random, the intentions genuine, the heart and soul present, the axe throwing supervised, the community real, and Mr Boom’s playing.

‘We’re making a sincere ask: buy before Wednesday 19 July, let us proceed with confidence, and we’ll produce the event we all want to go to. If you can’t afford to buy yet, let us know you’re coming, and tell your friends. The stage is set, and as a collective we can ensure that MugStock is the best bank holiday weekend we can imagine in 2023 and beyond.’

MugStock has established itself as one of the friendliest boutique festivals in Scotland, known for its warm atmosphere and frankly stellar line-up of acts. Here’s a treasure trove of reasons why you should purchase a ticket for the premier non-profit festival in Scotland. 

Idlewild are headlining 

One of the defining Scottish indie band of the early 2000s, Idlewild, will play Mugstock on Saturday 5 August. This headline slot will find the band pull from their ballooning back catalogue of hits, from ‘You Held The World In Your Arms’ to ‘Roseability’ and ‘American English’. Fronted by Roddy Woomble, the stalwart indie lads have always excelled at laying extreme teenage emotions and lost love on a vivid canvas, and seeing the band live brings those feelings to the fore in a rush of excitement. One not to be missed. 

The best of Scottish folk

Both Rachel Sermanni and Siobhan Wilson are on the Mugstock bill, two acts known for their blissfully ethereal take on folk music. Sermanni first entered the public eye with Under Mountains, an album that combined a simple eye for beauty with poetic lyrics. ‘Breathe Easy’ was that album’s opening track, and we can't think of a better summation of Sermanni’s work, which invites listeners to block out the world. 

Wilson’s first album There Are No Saints won her acclaim in 2017 for its spell-binding mixture of folk, French lyrics and her flawless falsetto, leading her to collaborate with Aidan Moffat and RM Hubbert on their album Here Lies The Body and start her own record label, Suffering Fools. Her latest double album, Recording Of Myself In A Room Of My Own and Seeing With Music In Nature, is grand in scope and continues her trajectory as one of the most engrossing songwriters in Scotland. Both Sermanni and Wilson are must-sees live.

Monday warmdown

MugStock pitches its festival as a fun and restorative experience, and their Monday warmdown aims to send punters home feeling well-rested and relaxed. Taking to the stage on Monday will be Siobhan Wilson (in her second appearance for the weekend), David Luximon and Modern Studies, and there'll be plenty of low-energy activities to indulge in. With a 5pm curfew, you'll have no reason to rush home from the camping grounds.

Kids entertainment 

MugStock’s reputation as a family-friendly festival has been well earned. Its specially dedicated family field and stage offers a relaxed atmosphere, while activities like petting cute dogs, dancing dinosaurs, viking living history displays, and treasure hunts guarantee a dollop of fun no matter where your kids are on the campsite. 

Danceable acts

A major element of this year’s line-up at MugStock is dance-jazz hybrid acts, from the unbridled joy of DJ Rebecca Vasmant to the complex funk-filled rhythms of Tom McGuire And The Brassholes. They’ll be joined by bands like the London Astrobeat Orchestra, Mungo’s HiFi, Colonel Mustard & The Dijon 5 and Bahookie Rock Ceilidh. Upbeat grooves are the name of MugStock’s game, then. What more could you want from a bank holiday weekend? 

Tickets for MugStock 2023 are on sale now.