Press release -
Bonfest pays tribute to legendary AC/DC frontman as Bon Scott statue is unveiled
The Scottish town of Kirriemuir will this weekend pay homage to one of gods of Rock ‘n’ Roll, as it unveils a life-sized statue of Bon Scott, the influential frontman of world-conquering band, AC/DC.
Keen to recognise the Scottish roots of the talismanic lead singer - voted No.1 on a list of the ‘100 Greatest Frontmen of All Time’ by Classic Rock magazine - the bronze statue will be revealed during the 10th annual Bon Scott International Festival, Bonfest, by event organisers DD8 Music.
It follows a two-year crowdfunding campaign, which drew support from AC/DC themselves, as well as thousands of the band’s loyal fans worldwide.
The Angus town was home to a young ‘Ronald Bedford Scott’ until the age of six, when his family left Scotland for Fremantle, Western Australia.
Scott was invited to join the band by Glasgow-born brothers and founding members Malcolm and Angus Young in 1974, and achieved international stardom before his death at the age of 33 in 1980.
To mark the occasion, several of Scott’s contemporaries are scheduled to attend Bonfest, along with almost 4,000 avid AC/DC fans from across the globe. During the festival, tribute acts from all over Europe will bring Kirriemuir to life with the sounds of one of its most celebrated sons.
DD8 Music Development Worker, Graham Galloway, said:
“In 2008, Bon’s Australian home town, Fremantle, unveiled a statue of him. At that point we started thinking it might be good to have one here where he started his life.
“The unveiling will take place on Saturday 30th of April, and will be carried out by some very special guests: Mark Evans, bass player on four of the Bon-era albums; Tony Currenti, drummer on AC/DC’s first album; and Mary Renshaw, Bon’s seamstress and ‘soul mate’.
“We are looking at a total attendance of 3,700 and are expecting fans from all over the world to travel. We have confirmed travellers from the USA, Canada, Spain, Italy, Norway, Germany, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, Australia and New Zealand. All in all, it is shaping up to be an amazing weekend.”
The event will be supported by EventScotland’s National Funding Programme in its 10th anniversary year, which has allowed for the erection of a big top festival site and a street party to take place. Bonfest is also supported by Angus Council.
Stuart Turner, Head of EventScotland, said:
“We are delighted to support the life and work of one of Scotland’s most influential and best-loved musicians with our funding of the 10th edition of Bonfest.
“I’m sure that the newly-unveiled statue will serve as further incentive for AC/DC aficionados to make the journey to Kirriemuir in the future to see where Bon spent his formative years, but also to experience all that wider Angus and Scotland have to offer.”
To find out more about Bonfest, visit www.bonfest.com.
- ENDS -
Topics
- Tourism
Categories
- corporate communications
- eventscotland
- ac/dc
Regions
- Scotland
Notes to Editors
-
EventScotland
- EventScotland is working to make Scotland the perfect stage for events. By developing an exciting portfolio of sporting and cultural events EventScotland is helping to raise Scotland’s international profile and boost the economy by attracting more visitors. For further information about EventScotland, its funding programmes and latest event news visit www.EventScotland.org. Follow EventScotland on Twitter @EventScotNews.
- EventScotland is a team within VisitScotland’s Events Directorate, the national tourism organisation which markets Scotland as a tourism destination across the world, gives support to the tourism industry and brings sustainable tourism growth to Scotland. For more information about VisitScotland see www.visitscotland.org or for consumer information on Scotland as a visitor destination see www.visitscotland.com.
- Follow us on twitter: @visitscotnews
- VisitScotland is Scotland’s national tourism organisation. Its core purpose is to maximise the economic benefit of tourism to Scotland.
- The organisation’s core objective is to contribute to the Tourism 2020 Strategy ambition of growing tourism revenues by £1 billion by 2020.
- This will be supported by seven overarching strategies:
- Marketing: we will market Scotland and its outstanding assets to visitors from all parts of the world, including the promotion of Scotland to people living in Scotland to visit different parts of the country
- Events: we will support the national events strategy and its delivery, and sustain, develop and promote Scotland’s international profile as one of the world’s foremost events destinations
- Internationalisation and International Engagement: we will utilise all our platforms to enable Scottish-based tourism businesses to better understand international opportunities and market to a global audience and we will work within One Scotland Partnerships to optimise the potential of Scotland’s Diaspora and our strategic partners at regional, European and global levels
- Customer Experience: we will provide information and inspiration to visitors both locally and globally via their preferred medium of choice
- Quality and Sustainability: we will provide support and advice to businesses, with the goal of improving the quality and sustainability of the tourism sector in Scotland. We will provide quality assurance to visitors through our Quality Schemes
- Inclusive Tourism: we will strive to make tourism in Scotland inclusive and available to all
- Working in Partnership: we will listen to and work with the industry, partners and communities to shape our offering and support
- VisitScotland works together with tourism businesses to make tourism a success for everyone and ensure the industry continues to grow.
- The organisation employs 700 people and has offices and VisitScotland Information Centres across Scotland.
- Spending by tourists in Scotland generates around £12 billion of economic activity in the wider Scottish supply chain and contributes around £6 billion to Scottish GDP (in basic prices). This represents about 5% of total Scottish GDP.
- The Scottish Government is the Managing Authority for the European Structural Funds 2014-20 Programme. For further information visit www.gov.scot or follow @scotgovESIF
- For VisitScotland’s press releases go to http://www.visitscotland.org/media_centre.aspx, tourism statistics and frequently asked questions go to http://www.visitscotland.org/
- Where possible, a Gaelic speaker will be made available for broadcast interviews on request (Far an tèid iarraidh, agus far am bheil sin nar comas, bruidhinnidh neach le Gàidhlig aig agallamh)
- For holiday information on Scotland go to www.visitscotland.com
- For information about business events in Scotland go to www.conventionscotland.com
Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design 2016 - 2016 will shine a spotlight on Scotland’s achievements in innovation, architecture and design through a wide-ranging, variety of new and existing activity.
- The Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design begins on 1 January 2016 and ends on 31 December 2016 and will build on the momentum generated by the 2015 Year of Food and Drink as well as previous years including Homecoming Scotland 2014, the Year of Creative and the Year of Natural.
- Through a series of exciting events and activity, the year will showcase Scotland’s position as an “innovation nation”, its outstanding built heritage, and its thriving, internationally acclaimed creative industries sector.
- The Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design is a Scottish Government initiative being led by VisitScotland, and supported by a variety of partners including Scottish Government, Creative Scotland, Architecture + Design Scotland, Scottish Tourism Alliance, Scottish Enterprise, The National Trust for Scotland, Historic Environment Scotland, Highlands and Islands Enterprise and The Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland (RIAS).
- The Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design events fund is managed by EventScotland, part of VisitScotland’s Events Directorate.
- Join the conversation at #IAD2016
- Events can join the 2016 Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design Partner Programme throughout the year by visiting http://www.eventscotland.org/YIAD_partner_programme
