Speculation over the future of RockNess music festival
The future of the RockNess music festival has been thrown into doubt after organisers refused to confirm if it will return next year.
There are fears the Dores event, which was cancelled this year, may not now go ahead in 2015 either, despite the people behind it claiming it would come back "bigger and better".
RockNess has become one of Scotland’s largest music festivals since it was first held in 2006, but the number of festival-goers fell last year.
Rumours have now begun to circulate over the future of next year’s event and organisers yesterday declined to reveal their plans.
In a statement, spokeswoman Mary McGowne said: "All I can say is that we are exploring all options for RockNess and an announcement will be made in due course.
"There is no further information at this time."
RockNess proved a hit with festival-goers in its early years and organisers partly blamed other events, such as the football World Cup and Glasgow’s Commonwealth Games, for deciding to cancel it this year.
The latest uncertainty does not surprise local Highland councillor Norrie Donald.
He said: "I had a feeling there might not be a festival next year to be perfectly honest, so it does not come as a shock, but it is very sad.
"I heard on the grapevine that there were problems finding land and the whole event was in need of more money. There was a poor turnout as well but it is incredibly sad for the village and sad for the many people who attend.
"Personally I think there were too many events going on in other parts of the country and people may have been put off by the cost of coming up here. It can work out to be really expensive to come and stay and the cost of travelling alone may put people off.
"The pressure of the budget is a constant factor but it is sad when things like this happen."
The festival is usually held each summer near Dores on the shores of Loch Ness and was attended by 30,000 people last year.
It is not the first time that the event has been plagued by doubts. A five-year deal was originally signed with farmer Alisdair Grant, who rented out his 85 acres of land alongside Roger Tempest of Aldourie Castle.
But two years ago negotiations between organisers and the landowners were only settled at the 11th hour, meaning tickets sales missed the vital Christmas market.
