If you go down Wildwoodz today, you won't believe your eyes – dance and DJ festival showcase Shenanigan Inverness returns to the Munlochy paintball centre for TWO days of Highland-sourced beats

IN the heart of the Black Isle, all sorts of Shenanigans are going down – as a Highland dance festival returns for its fifth year.

And north rave fans will be able to enjoy a double dose of dance when multi-stage north DJ showcase Shenanigan returns to Wildwoodz, near Munlochy, this weekend, with the festival adding a second day to proceedings.

This time Shenanigan will kick off on Friday night from 5pm, with camping available for rowdy revellers to make a weekend of it as music continues late into Saturday evening.

It marks the latest step forward for the locally-grown dance festival, organised by enthusiasts and Highland DJs – including Matt Lyon, who has been at the heart of Shenanigan since its first year at Bogbain Farm back in 2015.

“We had three great years over at Bogbain from 2015 to 2017, but it was time for something fresh,” he explained of the move to Wildwoodz last year. “The move allowed us to become more creative and offer more of a festival vibe to the event – which we are building on this year by offering the two days with camping.”

“Last year, for the first time we welcomed the High Society Soundsystem crew, who curated a stage for us and it was highly received with the punters. It's a bass heavy sound system and it fitted really well within the woodland space they were set up in.”

High Society Soundsystem will be back this year, alongside a raft of north DJ talents – including Acutek (Flick), Ckaz (Vibe, BOD), James King (Illicit) and Mark Mackenzie (Mau5trap, OutDores) – as well as Matt himself.

“It's certainly going to be all hands on deck next week!” Matt said. “Last year being the first one at Wildwoodz was a very steep learning curve for us.

“However, as the event matures, we have come up with a few ways to streamline our operations and make things a bit more efficient for this year’s festival.”

The lessons they’ve learned have stood them in good stead – as Shenanigan hits five this year, the work they’ve put in to provide a Highland dance festival is still paying off half a decade on.

“I know – it's crazy how the time flies!” Matt said. “But it's a proud moment when we stop and realise we have pulled off four successful years – and next week’s event will be number five!

“Shenanigan is a project designed for local DJs and local music lovers and we really couldn't have made this five year milestone without the continued support from them all.

“I'm just really grateful for that and hope to see that support continue so we can all look forward to Shenanigan seeing its next big milestone.”

Shenanigan comes to Wildwoodz, near Munlochy, on Friday (from 5pm) and Saturday. Tickets cost £45 plus booking fee (weekend) – day passes and parking permits also available. For more info, go to www.shenaniganinverness.com