Montrose Music Festival announces Ash as headline act

Northern Irish alternative rock band, Ash, has been confirmed as the headline act for this year’s Montrose Music Festival.

The music trio will perform at the Montrose Town Hall on Friday 22nd May 2015, kick-starting the weekend event, which attracts around 100 bands from across the UK, to venues in Montrose. This year’s festival takes place from Friday 22nd to Sunday 24th May 2015.

Ash will showcase songs, including Cocoon, from its forthcoming studio album, Kablammo!, its first in eight years, when it takes to the stage in Montrose this May.

Ash’s vocalist and guitarist, Tim Wheeler, said:

“We’re really pleased to be back on the road doing a few shows this year, and are really looking forward to kicking it off with a night in Montrose as part of its music festival.”

The Montrose Music Festival, or MoFest, as it’s affectionately known, is now in its eighth year and has 210 free gigs in 26 local venues lined-up for music fans.

MoFest’s Chairman, David Paton, said:

“Now in its eighth year, the Montrose Music Festival is going from strength to strength. We’re thrilled to welcome Ash to the line-up and have the band headline our weekend of music.

“We established the festival to make live music more accessible and year on year it’s developing and attracting more music fans as well as bands eager to take part. This year, we’ve had over 350 band applications which we’ve had to whittle down to around 100 bands, which will put on 210 free gigs over the weekend. It’s shaping up to be great MoFest!”

New for this year as part of the Year of Food and Drink Scotland 2015, delivered by VisitScotland, is a ‘market street’ outdoor area, featuring stalls with delicious Scottish produce.

Jim Clarkson, VisitScotland Regional Partnership Director, said:

“It’s fantastic to hear that once again the Montrose Music Festival will be bringing some of the best-known names in British music to Angus.  As well as serving a great day out for music fans, this event provides a real opportunity to raise the profile of Angus as a fantastic destination to explore, particularly during the Year of Food and Drink 2015.  The region is renowned for its culinary delights from potato vodka to the world famous Arbroath smokie. The introduction of a new ‘market street’ at this year’s event is sure to whet the appetite of festival goers and will help showcase the best of Scotland’s natural larder.

“Events and concerts are an increasingly important part of the visitor economy in Scotland. These experiences encourage repeat tourism and have a long term economic benefit for the region.”

David Paton added:

“We’re really excited to be adding a local food and drink aspect to this year’s festival, with support from VisitScotland.

“We’ve vendors coming to showcase a range of Scottish produce from Scottish salmon sushi to a local brewery, which coupled with a chill out tent with acoustic music sets, will create a relaxed environment.”

Following on from the hugely successful Status Quo show on Montrose East Links last year, MoFest and LCC Live have teamed up again. This year, they will bring Madness to Montrose as part of the festival’s offering, with a show at the East Links on Sunday 5th July. Tickets are still available for Madness in Montrose at: www.ticketline.co.uk/madness.

Ash at the Montrose Town Hall is the only ticketed event of MoFest’s May weekend. Tickets are priced from £20 and are on sale from 10am on Friday 27th March. Tickets can be purchased online at: www.ticketline.co.uk/order/gateway/13304173; by phone: 0844 888 9991, or from Montrose’s Links Hotel (Fairways Suite) between 10am to 12noon on Saturday 28th March 2015 (cash or card payments will be accepted). This show is for over 16’s only.

To find out more about MoFest, please visit: www.montrosemusicfestival.co.uk or follow on Twitter: @mofest2015 or on Facebook (www.facebook.com/montrosemusicfestival).