TITP Says Bye To Balado

The Pollstar award-winning Scottish festival, which has spent 18 years on the Kinross site, is moving because oil and gas pipelines are due to run through it.

“The safety issue is a bit puzzling,” says TITP chief Geoff Ellis, pointing out that a school and Aberdeen Airport will also have the pipelines running beneath them. “The authorities says it’s because of the sheer size of the event.”

Next year’s TITP will be at Strathallan Castle, only 15 minutes west of the Balado site and no difference time-wise for traveling fans. Ellis says the move from Balado to Strathallan is making him feel like a teenager leaving home for the first time.

“It’s a shame in the sense that we’ve developed the site by putting in roads and water mains, but we’re looking at the new site as an opportunity to create something special,” he said.

Apart from some Scottish drizzle on the Saturday, the weather held up and the site didn’t suffer any damage.

“You wouldn’t know a festival had just been held on it,” Ellis explained. TITP is owned by Irish entrepreneur Denis Desmond, the UK’s SJM Concerts and Live Nation.

Among the long list of acts helping TITP say goodbye to Balado July 11-13 were Pharrell Williams, Elbow, Pixies, Ed Sheeran, Ellie Goulding, and Bastille.