Bye Bye Balado - The Sun Sets On T

14 July 2014, 05:20 | Updated: 14 July 2014, 07:22

It was goodbye Balado at T in the Park as Arctic Monkeys brought Scotland's biggest music festival to an end for the final time at the fields it has called home for 18 years.

Their performance saw them become the last ever act to headline the main stage at the site in Kinross-shire as the event prepares for a move to the Strathallan Castle estate in Perthshire next year.

Biffy Clyro and Calvin Harris also delivered headlining sets during the three-day long festival which featured a surprise appearance on stage from Hollywood actor Will Smith.

A daily crowd of up to 85,000 danced through glorious sunshine and heavy rain as around 200 artists performed across 10 stages.

Other performers over the weekend included the headliners of T in the Park's first year at Balado - The Charlatans and Paul Weller - with both acts going on stage 18 years to the day after they performed at the debut in Kinross-shire.

The festival, which was celebrating its 21st birthday, was originally held at Strathclyde Park in Lanarkshire from 1994 to 1996 until it moved to the disused Balado airfield.

Organisers announced last month that the festival is being transported to the grounds of the 19th-century castle.

A deal was struck to move following health and safety concerns about an underground oil pipeline at the current site.

Darren Martin, 22, from Glasgow, has been to the festival many times and said: "It's the people who make T in the Park. There's no festival like it.

"At the end of the day it's just a field with grass and next year will be another field but it's still going to be as massive as it always has been.

"Where else do you get a crowd like this? Everyone's always up for it.''

David Anderson, 23, from Glasgow, said: "T in the Park's a community. It's always been like that - everyone comes back year after year.''

Since 1997 T in the Park has welcomed more than 2.7 million revellers, with around 2,800 artists playing during that time.

The line-up over two decades has ranged from Foo Fighters, The Stone Roses, The Killers and The Who to Kylie Minogue, Rihanna, Beyonce and Eminem.

Biffy Clyro have played T in the Park the most times, with their main stage headline set on Friday taking their total performances to 10.

Paul Weller, Jake Bugg, Kaiser Chiefs, Bastille and Franz Ferdinand were just some of the names performing yesterday, joining others such as Ed Sheeran, Pharrell Williams, Ellie Goulding and Elbow who played over the weekend.

Paolo Nutini was on the main stage on Saturday night with a set which included hits Candy, Pencil Full Of Lead and Jenny Don't Be Hasty before closing with Last Request.

The singer was back at Balado yesterday - mixing with the crowds and posing for photos with fans who recognised him despite having his face painted.

The clean-up at the site will begin today when campers pack up their tents and head home as organisers said more than 315,000 tents have been pitched in the Balado campsite over the years.

Festival director Geoff Ellis said: "Our audience has also been outstanding and we can't thank them enough for making the last 18 years at Balado so special - they are the heart and soul of T in the Park and they always will be.''

Police Scotland said crime levels were lower than last year with a total of 38 arrests since the campsite opened on Thursday, compared to 59 in 2013.

The Scottish Ambulance Service also reported lower visits to the hospital tent than at the same point last year; 858 compared to 1,035 the previous year.