Cream O’ The Croft – far more than just a bike festival

After the success of the inaugural event in 2015, Cream o’ the Croft, “Scotland’s Mountain Bike Festival”, is set to make a much anticipated return to Comrie Croft in Perthshire, from Friday 17 to Sunday 19 June 2016, and organisers are promising a fun-packed weekend for mountain bikers and non-mountain bikers of all ages.

From a top class mountain bike Enduro and round three of the Scottish Bike Trials Championships to a pedal powered film night, live music and a huge range of family activities, races and coaching sessions both on and off the bike; together with locally sourced food and drink, Cream o’ the Croft caters for everyone.

Thanks to the generosity of local activity providers a huge range of activities and entertainment is included in the entry fee. The fantastic line up of Live Bands on Friday night, a giant waterslide, segways, quad pods, circus skills workshops, a petting zoo, slack line, giant inflatables, a magical fairy hunt, a rodeo bull, light chaser, gyroball are all included.

Aaron Gray, festival promoter at Muckmedden Events, said; "We were blown away by how well received the festival was last year, both by mountain bikers and those with very little interest in cycling. As well as being a mountain bike festival, Cream o’ the Croft is also a music and beer festival in its own right, so even if mountain biking isn’t your thing it’s a great event to hang out with friends and family in a laid-back festival atmosphere.

Despite the huge range of activities, events and entertainment off the bike mountain bikers will be extremely happy as bikes and bike racing are still at the heart of the festival throughout the weekend.

In a bid to find the true all-rounder, Saturday’s main event is a fun-focused mountain bike Enduro featuring 9 timed stages, including pumptrack “Jump and Pump” stage, blue, red and black-graded descents, dual slalom, cross country and hill climb stages. The fastest male and female across all stages will be crowned the “Cream o’ the Croft”.

On Sunday there will be a Mini Enduro for riders ages 6 – 13 years together with super-fun Toddler Balance Bike and Pedal Bike racing.

For those who would rather watch other people ride bikes, this year’s festival sees the inclusion of Round 3 of the Scottish Bike Trials Championships. The spectacular spectator sport of Bike Trials has been showcased to millions thanks to recent films such as Danny MacAskill’s film "The Ridge”. However with entry classes for beginners and upwards, riders don't have to possess the same awesome skills as Danny to take part at Cream o’ the Croft!

Other biking action includes Toddler coaching, women’s only coaching, a bunny-hop competition, a pumptrack challenge and bike drag racing. The kids can even have a laugh at the grown-up’s expense during the adult balance bike racing!

Non-competitive riders will also have a role to play in keeping the action going throughout the weekend, as not only will the main sound system be 100% pedal-powered, but the Scottish premiere of Anthill Films hotly-anticipated new mountain biking film "Not2Bad" will be screened in a pedal-powered cinema on Friday night!

Aaron Gray continued: “Muckmedden are known for organising fun-focused mountain bike events and last year when we combined this experience with the award-winning Comrie Croft and locally-sourced gourmet food and drink from Hansen’s Kitchen it created something really special. We’re all really excited to be bringing the festival back for another year and we’re pushing the boat out to make sure there’s something for everyone.”

Saturday's live music line-up is headlined by the 7-piece Jenova Collective from Leeds. Returning from a European and Australasian tour, their infectious upbeat tunes have been described as "the sound of the 20’s swing movement layering with interesting modern samples and powerhouse vocals". The local talent line-up includes Crieff's Black and Thomson and Comrie favourites The Bullet Holes, who make a welcome return after a twelve-month break. Sunday’s live music selection includes Glasgow band The Daddy Naggins - "the sound of high energy bluegrass with a Glaswegian twist" and Fife’s The Coaltown Daisies, "'Best Folk Performance' winners".

Andrew Donaldson, venue manager at Comrie Croft concluded: “If anyone is wondering what is so special about Cream o’ the Croft, I couldn't put it any better than this feedback from one of last year’s festival goers”:

'The atmosphere was great - we really liked the 'home-spun' feel to it all. It was good that we didn't feel we were getting 'fleeced' at every turn: everything seemed to be included in the weekend pass cost and there was no further cash needed for things such as the bucking bronco, pedal powered Scalextric/smoothie maker, etc. The guy on the tannoy for the races was fab! The kids in our party had a great time (age 7 and 9) and it felt safe just letting them run around the whole site without supervision. We all really enjoyed the whole weekend and would definitely book up for next year. Thanks and well done."

For more information on Cream o’ the Croft, the full festival schedule, and to purchase tickets go to: www.creamothecroft.co.uk.