Mhor Fun All Round At Mhor Festival: 24 - 25 May 2014

Mix up Scotland’s top chefs; bread making workshops and tea & tango with a dash of ceilidh and club music; a raft race and a kids Bugsy Malone Bar with splurge guns and Scotland’s most unique event, Mhor Festival is the result.

Set in the national park on the shores of Loch Voil, the festival takes place on 24 and 25 May.  It kicks off with an opening raft race on the loch. This year’s race is clan-themed with festival-goers competing for £100 prize money. The Saturday continues with a laid-back vibe and live music from All Guns Blazing, DJ Jamie Miller and the legendary Nick Peacock. The cake baking competition will award £100 to the best entry following the theme of Commonwealth countries.

For children there is pot planting in the gardens and activities like music and dance, traditional party games, giant parachute play, bubble time and a mini Commonwealth games from Magwitch Monsters.

Visitors won’t go hungry with an Oyster Bar, Pimms and Champagne bar, The Salad Bar, The Big Barbeque cooking up meats from the family farm, a vintage tearoom serving up afternoon tea, and beers from artisan breweries.  Fish and chips will be served up in a converted horsebox and this year children will have their own Bugsy Malone style bar where they can don a trilby and sample mocktails.

Saturday night sees five top chefs each cook a course for the Festival Feast, giving food lovers a unique opportunity to sit down to an epic meal.  The chefs taking part are:

Andrew Fairlie, Restaurant Andrew Fairlie –  Andrew is Scotland’s only two Michelin star chef.

Roy Brett, Ondine – The award-winning seafood chef makes a welcome return to Mhor Festival.

Michael Smith, The Three Chimneys – The well known winner of BBC’s Great British Menu, Michael Smith returns to the festival from his home on Skye.

Neil Forbes, Café St Honore – One of Edinburgh’s best-loved and award-winning chefs.

Tom Lewis, Monachyle MHOR – On his home turf, Tom is one of Scotland’s foremost chefs.

There will also be live music on the night from fiddle player and singer Eilidh Shaw and Celtic musician Ross Martin.

The following day will have a gentle start with a Sunday Morning Paper Review.  Guests can relax with a coffee and bacon rolls, while taking part in a review of the day’s newspapers led by a panel of journalists and commentators.  Well-known journalist Bill Jamieson will head up the discussions.

Afterwards, a wine, beer and food market will be held in the barn alongside local crafts stalls.  There will be bread-baking courses and a Best Loaf competition with Masterchef quarter finalists Julie MacLeoad and Marysia Paszkowska and£100 prize money up for grabs. There’s even the omelette competition made famous by BBC’s Saturday Kitchen. With a range of options for eating, there are also more children’s games and live music as wells as the opportunity to pick up some new moves at Tea and Tango.  Crowds will be kept entertained by DJ Jamie Miller on the front lawn with the legendary DJ and host Mark Robb (The Buff Club & Cafe Rio Glasgow).

A Play, A Pint & A Pie this year sees the Irish hit Fred & Alice: Love in the Time of OCD make its Scottish debut. Written and directed by John Sheehy, the two-man play has toured Ireland to critical acclaim and will go onto show at Glasgow’s Oran Mhor.

On Sunday evening, the pace picks up with a family ceilidh with music from the legendary Brian McAlpine and Session A9. Live music from 9pm will feature Rail Fan, the Americana blues-inspired band that supported Deacon Blue at Hogmanay. Then from 10pm until late The Club will feature DJs Mash (a well known fixture on nights like Bugged Out and RIP and house editor at Mixmag) and Joshua (an up and coming DJ who runs the successful clubnight, Stay Fresh).

The festival’s spectacular setting on the shores of Loch Voil are ideal for enjoying the great outdoors but in the event of bad weather, the festival will move under cover to two large barns. Lochside camping will be available on both nights.

Mhor Festival is organised by the Lewis family, who run award-winning Monachyle Mhor and Mhor 84 motel.  The festival takes place at Monachyle Mhor Hotel, Balquhidder, Lochearnhead, Perthshire, FK19 8PQ.

For more information or to book, go to www.mhor.net; call 01877 384 622 or email monachyle@mhor.net.