Connect Festival to make comeback at new venue at Royal Highland Centre in Edinburgh

TRNSMT organisers have announced that Connect Festival is set to make a comeback at a new venue in Edinburgh this summer.

The three-day festival, which will take place from August 26 to 28, has been “remastered” for a new audience having previously been held at Inveraray Castle in Argyll in 2007 and 2008.

Connect will now be held at The Royal Highland Centre and will feature a number of bands, DJs, artists, performers, spoken word, visual arts and installations across the weekend, with the line up due to be announced next week.

Although organisers DF Concerts said it would not be a “traditional camping event”, there will be a glamping area onsite with a number of hotels nearby.

DF Concerts & Events CEO, Geoff Ellis said: “We are delighted to be announcing the Royal Highland Centre as our new festival home for Connect today.

“During initial planning discussions around the relaunch of Connect, we realised that we had to make some changes and to remaster the original Festival proposition for today’s audiences.

“One of the biggest considerations we had was around public transport and ensuring the event was accessible to festival goers from across the country.

“The Royal Highland Centre provides a purpose-built event site that is readily accessible by public transport for each of the three days. This not only makes it easy for festival goers to attend but hugely supports our ambition to deliver a more sustainable festival now and into the future.”

Festival manager Katt Lingard added: “As a team, we are really excited about bringing Connect to life within the grounds of The Royal Highland Centre. It’s a very unique site and it gives us a fantastic opportunity to create a truly sustainable approach to the festival experience.

“One of the biggest attractions of our new home is the site’s permanent infrastructure and existing facilities. These play a crucial role in realising our sustainability ambitions for the festival.

“Although we are still very much in the planning stages, Connect’s audience will be at the heart of both its content and design. We are so excited to welcome our guests, showing them everything that Connect has to offer – from incredible artists and entertainment to our focus on wellness and the arts, all served alongside a fabulous range of food and drink.”