Live at Loch Lomond is washed out for 2009

Nov 21 2008 by Marc McLean, Lennox Herald (main ed)

LIVE at Loch Lomond will almost certainly not be returning to Balloch Park in 2009.

The event promoter has confirmed it is “unlikely” the music festival will be brought back to the bonnie banks for a third consecutive year.

Heavy rain turned the park into a mudbath in 2007 and bad weather in the build up to this year’s festival in August led to the grass being badly damaged again.

Due to an insurance agreement set up with West Dunbartonshire Council, promoter Ricky Magowan had to foot a hefty bill each year for the park to be resurfaced.

He said: “We don’t know about staging the festival again yet, but it is unlikely.

“A lot of money had to be spent on returfing the park. It cost nearly £100,000 over two years.

“And in the present climate everyone’s ticket sales are down – apart from the big, major players.

“The real problem was the weather, it was just a nightmare for us.

“Also, with the campsite being a mile and a half away from the main event a lot of people who came the first year didn’t like that and never returned the next.”

With acts including Groove Armada, Sex Pistols, and Ocean Colour Scene, festival organisers had hoped to attract the maximum of 40,000 music fans to Balloch Park over two days.

However, ticket sales were slow and only around 26,000 festival-goers attended.

A West Dunbartonshire Council spokeswoman said: “Our event team has met with the event organisers and, at this time, we do not expect that there will be a Live at Loch Lomond in 2009.”

Despite Balloch Park looking like it will be festival-free next year, Ricky added that he would consider approaching council chiefs to bring the festival back in 2010.