MugStock 2022 Postponed to 2023

We’ve decided to wait just one more year before bringing MugStock to Strathallan Castle, and it’s because we want the longterm best for our festival, and for Scotland’s Independent Festivals sector…

MugStock was born out of a love of music and the desire to help people share unique, joyous, inspiring moments. We are proud to have created many such moments since 2015, and we’re proud to still be surviving despite plans being scuppered for the past 2 years!

Our volunteer-led, charitable status has given us lower overheads and increased access to support, however the landscape is far from predictable, and for our wee team, it feels too risky to try to bring our festival to a new site in a year already overflowing with a backlog of many-times postponed gigs and events (we wholeheartedly urge you to go to as many of them as possible!)

It’s a hard truth to realise but if MugStock took place in England we would probably still be going ahead this year. The aftermath of both the pandemic and Brexit has seen costs rising across the board, and suppliers expecting up front payment to secure essential services and equipment. We were disappointed to learn that festivals south of the border benefitted on average from 3 times as much financial support than Scottish festivals, based on grant income divided by event capacity. In addition many of these events were also able to run last year, whilst the majority of Scottish festivals had to cancel. With no obvious sign of action coming from The Scottish Government we would urge you, Scotland’s Independent Festival community, to support the sector by buying tickets as early as possible for the festivals you love.

So as much as we absolutely can’t wait to be there, we’re going to delay our inaugural Strathallan edition and stand to fight another day. And we shall be fighting with renewed vigour: for our right to party, and for the artists and music we will never tire of sharing.

MugStock will debut at Strathallan Castle 4th – 7th August 2023. Meanwhile we are not downing tools. In fact we plan to create more music and more merriment than ever before in 2022 and beyond, including on the weekend we had planned to spend at Strathallan. More on that shortly…

All tickets purchased for MugStock 2022 will automatically roll over to 2023, with refunds available to those who can’t make it.

This year, with the luxury of time, we will be inviting you, our community, to help influence the way the festival evolves by being consulted and having the opportunity to share ideas and opinions with the wider festival team as part of a more transparent planning process.

For starters we’ve launched a wee nanosurvey over at: www.mugstock.org/share (stay alert for a cheeky 5% discount code hidden at the end). First question: What makes a great festival?

Meanwhile, and much more excitingly, our Cumbernauld venue The MugShack is now available for private functions, and will soon be open to the public with some big gigs brewing when we launch our stage and auditorium (just a spot of spring cleaning to be done…). The MugShack is also now home to 2 creative organisations with a penchant for repurposing. Cumbernauld Alternative Network and TRASH Music Projects respectively will help people make clothes from abandoned tents, and music from junk. We are excited to be developing a multi-use creative and enterprising space, where we can share the music we love much more often than just once a year. Do pay us a visit!

Thank you sincerely everyone who’s confidence in MugStock has brought us so far!

We hope you can appreciate that we have made a difficult decision which will ultimately result in a better and more resilient festival which can support and celebrate the musicians, artists, crew and randomers whom we love and appreciate dearly.