MacMoray organiser bringing Elgin festival back "bigger and better" in honour of partner Sarah
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THE organiser of MacMoray Family Easter Festival is aiming to bring it back to Elgin "bigger and better" in memory of his partner.
Andy Macdonald, from Lossiemouth, put on the first running of the festival to a bumper crowd of 7500 people at Cooper Park last summer.
Mr Macdonald described the day as his "biggest achievement" at the "worst time of his life".
Just two weeks before the festival, on April 5, Andy's partner Sarah Elizabeth Read suffered a severe stroke, while pregnant with the couple's first baby. On August 7, 2022, she passed away, aged just 31.
After taking months away from work to grieve, Andy is now ready to get back to work and is determined to put on an improved MacMoray Festival to honour Sarah's life.
"Sarah was the motivation and inspiration behind MacMoray starting and she's the reason I'm going to continue to push on with it," he said.
"It was our mad idea to do a festival and, after several site visits, she said Cooper Park was the one so we did it here.
"She was the love of my life and I'm doing my best to do her proud and keep on going down the road she set us on.
"She was a big lover of the idea of MacMoray and we want to keep making it bigger and better.
"For months I wasn't capable of work, I was in shock at losing my best friend and partner. I needed a lot of time to grieve and mourn.
"It's been an extremely tough time with a tragic ending but it's time for me to focus on business.
"I'm heartbroken but knowing how many people are excited by MacMoray inspires me and gives me something positive to focus on.
"It will be in Sarah's honour, that's the only way I can do it."
Next year's MacMoray Festival will take place at Cooper Park across the weekend of April 29 and April 30, with a total of 14 acts to be announced in the coming weeks. The first two will be announced on Friday, November 11.
Weekend tickets are set to go on sale on Friday, November 4, at 5pm. Day tickets will be going on sale at a future date.
There will be capacity for 10,000 people on both days, with all tickets to be frozen at 2022 prices. Adult day tickets are £38 and weekend adult tickets are £57.50.
Andy added that Sarah's passing had given him new perspective, meaning he has kept the festival as cheap as possible.
"The way I think is different now," he added. "Every festival has raised their prices but I haven't. With booking fee prices, which I don't have control over, I have priced them as low as I can."
Similar to last year's festival, while everything is in place, the license has not yet officially been signed off by Moray Council.
A full ticket refund will be available in the unlikely event of this not being granted, with Andy adding that he didn't believe it was fair to have festival-goers wait any longer.
While the 2022 festival was hailed as a big success, concerns from attendees last year have been noted and issues that arose will be improved upon.
The number of entrances will increase, there will be twice as many toilets, the number of bar staff will be far higher and the sound system will be upgraded.
"We listened to the public and take on board everything we have heard and will adjust things," Andy said.
"We have doubled the amount of toilets, gone from six one-metre lanes at the bars to 16 1.5-metre lanes and will have three times as many staff.
"Sarah was in control of staff last year so we lost a lot of communication, and in the end 60 per cent of the staff, after her stroke.
"We are increasing arena space so there's more room to sit and set up picnics.
"There will be three entrance points – an exclusive VIP entrance, the main entrance and a click and collect entrance – with people in Moray having a chance to collect their wristbands up to a week before the festival and skip queues.
"We will have big screens, a better sound system, we are moving the stage back so the sound is more amplified and we'll be putting speakers half way up the park.
"We are going to increase children's entertainment, both stages will be outdoor, the public bar and the VIP bar will be separate and some of the artists that we've booked have agreed to do meet and greets with VIP fans."
The festival has struck a deal with Maynes Coaches, with buses set to run to Cooper Park from 10 towns in Moray on both the Saturday and Sunday.
For people driving, car parking will be available at UHI Moray College, UHI Moray College's Linkwood campus and Moray Sports Centre. Overnight parking is also available for motorhomes.
Finally – Andy is encouraging, although not forcing, all those attending to come in fancy dress.
"It will make our festival stand out," he added.
For additional information, and to get your tickets, visit www.macmoray.com.
