NessFest
 NessFest was in 2007 the first of its kind for Fort Augustus and The Highland Club. It is a traditional music festival bringing the best of contemporary traditional music to this area, held in the grounds of the former Fort Augustus Abbey or to be more precise what was the cricket pitch for the Abbey school. The 2007 event kicked off on the Friday night with the internationally renowned Wolfstone with excellent support from Garry Innes’s band Darien Project. Saturday saw pub sessions where local musicians played in pubs. The sole intent of these sessions was to get you to bring along your own instrument and join in with them in good old rattling highland ceilidh style. For the younger festival goers there were hourly theatre workshops throughout the day that included things like mime, mask making, general drama, horror and more.
Another first not only for this area but for the Highlands was the Loch Ness Magic Challenge. This was a magic competition where magicians from all over Scotland performed at various locations throughout the village. Competing for a cash prizes the public were the judges. The tradition of magic and wizardry is still alive it the Highlands. To launch her attempt to swim the English Channel in aid of cystic fibrosis, long distance swimmer Morag Hughes swam a section of Loch Ness, guessing her time helped her raise money?  Music was ongoing from lunch time on Saturday in the circus tent in the Abbey grounds started with some up and coming young bands of ceilidh trail background rounding of the afternoon with Sirens a new and excellent band from the Borders. A break for something to eat from one of the food outlets at the festival and a wander round the craft stalls, maybe a beer or two in the beer tent. The evening started off with Lau hailed by fRoots magazine as ‘The New Kings of Scotland’. Consisting of Chris Drever, Aidan O’Rourke and Martin Green you will rarely hear musicianship of such high standard. ‘Acid croft’ is usually the term used to describe Shooglenifty one of the most exciting bands on the circuit, internationally loved and with several successful albums to their name. If you say that you don’t dance, I defy you to stand still when these guys play.
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