Scottish celtic rock group Runrig’s farewell ‘The Last Dance’ gig is expected to bring 45,000 fans to Stirling. Fans will come to the city for the two farewell gigs on Friday 17th August and Saturday 18th August.
Runrig will perform in City Park, in the shadow of Stirling castle, and have an 8 minute fireworks display on Saturday.
Tickets for Runrig’s farewell gig were in such high demand that an extra day was added to the event, after all 25,000 tickets for the Saturday were sold in the first 4 minutes.
Entry to the gig will be for pre-paid tickets only and no tickets will be on sale on the days.
Organisers of the event have said that 9% of the tickets sold are from outside the UK, with fans coming from far and wide to see the band’s last ever performance.
The event is predicted to bring a £7.25 million boost to Stirling’s local economy, and local businesses are taking advantage of this. Bars such as Katie’s, Nicky Tam’s, and the Cold Beer Company have extended their opening hours to 2am through a late licence.
Other bars in the area will host events for the Runrig fans alongside their extended opening hours, with No. 2 Baker Street hosting live bands from Thursday to Sunday, the Kilted Kangaroo having a DJ over the weekend, and the City Walls playing live music from 2:30 to 5:30, hosting a Runrig after party from 10pm till 2pm, and (weather permitting) having an all day rooftop terrace bar and BBQ.
Hotels in the area, such as the Premier Inn, Travelodge, Stirling Highland Hotel and the Royal Hotel in Bridge of Allan have all confirmed that they are fully booked for the weekend. Booking.com also shows that numerous guest houses in the area, as well as on-campus hotels such as the Stirling Court Hotel, Juniper Court, and Willow Court, are in “high demand,” with some only having one or two single rooms left.
Stirling Council and the event organisers, LCC Live Event Services, have released a list of road closures that will take place during the event and have warned motorists to expect disruptions. The following was posted on Stirling Council’s website;
- A811 Raploch Road from its junction with A84 Back O’Hill Road to its junction with B8051 Dumbarton Road will be closed from 10am on Friday 17th August until 8am on Sunday 19th August. Residents of Ballengeich Road will be unable to turn left onto A811 Raploch Road during the period of the closure.
- Raploch Road from its junction with Huntly Crescent to its junction with A84 Back O’Hill Road, will be closed from 10am on Friday 17th August until 1am on Saturday 18th August and 10am Saturday 18th August until 1am Sunday 19th August.
- A 720 metre stretch of Dumbarton Road from its junction with the A811 will be closed to vehicles for a maximum period of 20 minutes between 11pm and midnight each night.
- The pedestrian footway immediately adjacent to A84 Millennium Way/A811 Raploch Road roundabout will also be shut.
- Residents can be assured that pedestrians and emergency vehicles on blue lights will still have access to these roads throughout.
Police Scotland have commented that any information about road closures will also be posted on Forth Valley Police Division’s Facebook page.
They have also released information regarding roads leading into the city, and for fans travelling to Stirling;
• All motorway traffic heading to Stirling for the Runrig concerts is directed to come off at M9 Junction 10 Craigforth;
• The A84 is the only road that accesses the concert site at City Park and temporary trackway is in place to help motorists if it is raining;
• The main car park provides parking for approximately 3,500 vehicles while the campsite car park has capacity for around a further 1,300 cars;
• Access to the concert car parks is by pre-paid tickets only for all vehicles;
• The main car park is open from 1pm each day and closes at 1am;
• A drop-off/collection point is available in the Castleview park and ride car park off the roundabout on the A84
A campsite for 4000 people is also being set up, and will be open from 10am on Friday till 12 noon on Sunday.
Stirling council have also made arrangements for extra parking throughout the city, in Dalgliesh Court Car Park, Wellgreen Car Park, and Linden Avenue Car Park. All Stirling Council car parks will not charge for parking after 5:30pm and the Thistles shopping centre has offered 900 parking spaces in The Marches car park until 1am at a usual parking cost.
The event has been welcomed by political leaders in Stirling. Stirling’s MP Stephen Kerr has said; “The Runrig concert is a great opportunity for Stirling to show that it is a great place to hold major events. We are ready, our Council is ready, our businesses are ready and it looks like it will be a fun event for everyone who visits our city for the event. Hopefully the disruption will be well-managed and residents won’t be too inconvenienced, but the economic impact of so many people coming here will be felt for years to come.”
Bruce Crawford MSP also commented saying;
“I am delighted that Stirling has been chosen to host the final Runrig gig, which is attracting tens-of-thousands of people to the city area and will generate a massive boost to the local economy.
“I hope everyone enjoys the concert and that the weather is kind throughout!”
The chair of Stirling Council’s Planning and Regulation Panel, Councillor Alasdair MacPherson, released a statement saying;
“Stirling is proud to welcome Runrig fans to the city to enjoy the band’s farewell concerts.
“Runrig’s retirement has sparked interest from fans all over the world and this two-day concert is expecting to bring in an estimated £7.25 million to the local economy.
“The band’s popularity has been underlined by the fact that a second date had to be added after all 25,000 tickets for the Saturday were sold within just four minutes of going on sale.
“Stirling Council officers have been working closely with the concert organisers LCC to ensure that traffic disruption is kept to a minimum and that the clean-up of the site is carried out to the highest standard.
“Attracting a concert of this significance has only been made possible by Stirling Council investing in making City Park a high quality event site through our city region deal capital programme.
“Runrig have made an outstanding contribution to Scottish music over the past 45 years and it is a tribute to Stirling that the band were so keen to perform here for their final concerts.”
The Event director, Les Kidger, also released a statement on the council website; “This is Runrig’s finale. People are travelling from all over the world. I think there’s nine per cent of the tickets sold, have been sold outwith the UK.
“We’ve got people coming in from Australia, New Zealand, America, Canada, and Germany and Scandinavia where the band were really popular.
“So it’s a really big thing for Stirling to welcome these people from all over the world and show them all the benefits that Stirling and Stirlingshire has to offer.
“Ken Bruce was on Radio 2 this week talking about the show so I think the next eight weeks will do a lot to promote Stirling as a concert venue.
“TV companies are going to be there and there will certainly be a DVD that will show not just the concert but the areas around Stirling. I’m sure the castle will be shown prominently.”
“We do this all over the country from the south right to the north. If we don’t leave a site clean, we don’t get invited back – and it is very important that we get invited back.
“The last people to leave the site will be our cleaning officers, who will make sure there is nothing left behind.”
Runrig were formed in Skye in 1973 as The Runrig Dance Band and are well-known for their rendition of Loch Lomond, a statement on the band’s website says; “After 45 wonderful years in the music business, we have finally taken the very difficult and heart wrenching decision to pull the curtain down on our long career, in 2018.”
Great article .