Be in Belhaven

Be in Belhaven is an annual music festival which takes place in Scotland at Belhaven Park, a public park in the town centre of Wishaw, North Lanarkshire. The first Be in Belhaven festival took place on 2 August 2008. The event is run by the Be in Belhaven Planning Group, an amalgamation of local volunteer groups, Wishaw Patch Voice and Friends of Belhaven, as a free charity event with donations on the day of the event going to a chosen charity. The main beneficiary being Maggie's Cancer Centers In Particular Maggie's Lanarkshire Interim service at Wishaw General Hospital.

2008

Planning

In the Autumn of 2007, Friends of Belhaven, a Belhaven Park community group, approached Wishaw Patch Voice, a local youth group known locally for running music events, about providing live music for a family fun day. As one thing led to another, the family funday became a fully fledged music festival.

Event

The event rook place on 2 August and was run as a Music Festival and a Family Funday. Along with the Main Stage there was also an Acoustic Tent run by the Foundry Music Lab, a Recording studio run by Wet Wet Wet guitarist Graeme Duffin. There was also many activities put on for young children in a bid to attract people along early in the day with the music becoming the main focus later in the day. Headliners for the event were Glasgow girl band The Hedrons who, having already had chart success, was seen as a real coup. Negotiations with other chart acts The Holloways and The Rumble Strips had broken down. 34 other bands also played the event including tribute act, The Underground Jam and local bands such as Rocketfox, The Lafontaines, The Down & Outs, The Jackanoorys, Station Sound, The Seventeenth Century and Opportunity Club