A leading international music festival based in the Outer Hebrides has won a top award at one of the most prestigious events in the Scottish music industry.

The Hebridean Celtic Festival, staged annually in Stornoway, was voted  'Event of the Year' at the Scots Trad Music Awards, considered to be the 'Oscars' of Scottish Traditional music. The event is co-hosted by BBC Scotland Online and Hands Up For Trad, an organisation dedicated to increasing the profile and visibility of Scottish traditional music through information, education and advocacy.

Among the contenders which the Hebridean Celtic Festival beat for the award was Celtic Connections, which takes place in Glasgow and attracts approximately 200,000 people to around 39 venues.

This year's Scot's Trad Awards took place at Edinburgh's Queen's Hall on Saturday 4th December and the particular award of 'Event of the Year' was sponsored by VisitScotland.

Caroline MacLennan, Hebridean Celtic Festival Director, said: "This is a remarkable achievement, and it is all the more rewarding for the fact that these awards are voted by the public.

"All of our volunteers, our community, our sponsors and supporters have played a huge part in what is a fantastic success. We would also like to give a heartfelt thanks to the people who voted for us. They come to the festival each year from around the world and create a very special atmosphere. This gives us a real incentive to put on an even better festival in 2005 in what will be our tenth anniversary."

Simon Thoumire, director of Hands Up For Trad said: "It's absolutely brilliant to see the Hebridean Celtic Festival succeeding. Everybody's talking about it and everybody voted for it."

For information about the festival see www.hebceltfest.co.uk