THERE are some moments I'll remember until the moment I shuffle off this mortal coil, la-la-la'ing against the dying of the light. Unless my marbles are mislaid along the way, I like to think when my time comes I'll have a freeze-frame in my mind of a sunny Friday afternoon in early August 2016 spent in the natural amphitheatre that is the main stage at Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival near Beauly. Beside me are my husband and our two children, who are forever 12 and 14, and we are watching The LaFontaines skelp their way through a blistering set.

If I am honest, until this lazy sunny afternoon, I'd never heard of this Motherwell hip hop, rock and pop combo, but I am liking what I am seeing and hearing. And it's so unlike our usual Friday afternoon, which consists of husband and I working from home and frantically trying to finish up for the week while children demand lifts to various locations.

"The La, the La, the LaFontaines!" chant the crowd as effervescent frontman Kerr Okan climbs up to the upper level of Belladrum's Italian walled garden where we're lounging around enjoying the spectacle of him trying to keep time with his bandmates from a fair old distance.

Everyone springs to their feet as one. This is worth countless visits to chemical toilets and sleeping in a field for three nights, I remember thinking …

Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival occupies an unusual niche in Scotland's music festival calendar. Founded in 2004 by Joe Gibbs, the owner of Belladrum Estate, the festival has become a much-loved family-friendly affair which sees thousands of loyal Bella fans from eight to 80-plus flock to a series of fields outside Beauly and take up temporary residence. With its Italianate gardens, mature trees, rolling fields and parkland looking out to the hills beyond, it's a bonnie spot.

Over the years, some of the biggest names in the music industry have played Belladrum; Tom Jones, the Kaiser Chiefs, Manic Street Preachers, Travis, Ocean Colour Scene, Biffy Clyro and Echo and the Bunnymen. It has gone from strength to strength while Rockness and T in the Park have faltered.

In 2016 – its 13th year – headliners included Madness, Two Door Cinema Club and The Darkness. Next year, we already know that soul legendettes Sister Sledge will be taking to the main stage, as will Franz Ferdinand and KT Tunstall.

I have been talking about going for years. Friends living in the Highlands raved about it as a family-friendly affair with a trouble-free atmosphere. Colleagues on the XpoNorth creative industries network, which whom I work on a regular basis, were shocked I hadn't been.

So 2016 was the year of our first music festival as a family … and what a vintage year it proved to be. We decided to go for the full Bella. The fun always starts on a Thursday and ends with a bang on Saturday night, with the majority of festivalgoers heading home on Sunday morning.

Although we have our own family-sized tent at home, we were lured by the pull of the all-inclusive Pitch Village camping package, which consists of a pre-pitched tent (great joy) and mattresses and sleeping bags.

The Pitch Village also gave us access to hot showers, private loos, "freshen-up tents", free phone charging (a must when you have teens), 24-hour customer care and free hot drinks and biscuits. What's not to like? If we'd had a baby with us, as many folk did, there was even a well-equipped tent for changing nappies.

A word to the wise: your phone may be charged but internet access is limited. This is a field in the Highlands, after all. In the end, husband and I found it liberating even if the teens were frustrated they weren't Snapchatting the life out of the whole experience.

We decided not to bring cooking equipment as we'd been assured there were more than enough catering outlets around the site and this was no exaggeration.

On the festival site itself you will find all manner of fine food outlets. As a veggie, I always complain because there's never any decent food with my name on it at big events. Belladrum bucked this trend. I was stunned when the 14-year-old asked for Quorn stir-fried noodles seconds. There was even a mobile cafe in our Pitch Village where you could buy breakfast. Just outside the village was another van selling fantastic pick-me-up rolls and bacon/egg and tatty scone/sliced sausage of a morning.

Before we go any further, let me tell you not one of us had a bad loo experience anywhere on the Bella site. And I cannot tell a lie, I did fret about this beforehand …

There is an option to pay extra for a Friendly Flush pass in advance on the Belladrum website (£13 for adults and £7 for children), but the chemical loos were kept relatively fragrant, despite being used by thousands of people. It was clear festival staff on site worked hard round the clock at keeping them clean and for this they deserve Tartan heartfelt thanks.

As Bella virgins, it took us a wee while to navigate our way around the vast site with its 18 stages and assorted hard-to-classify areas such as the Jock 'n' Roller Ice Disco and Danny MacAskill's Drop 'n' Roll arena, but by the Saturday night, we were past masters. By that stage, my daughter and I had even partaken of an delicious afternoon tea in the Kiltarlity Village Hall marquee in the company of several members of a pipe band.

Then there was the alcoholic beverage tokens system to work out … but needs must. Basically, you buy tokens when you arrive and you take your chances at one of the many bars dotted around the site.

Thursday-night headliners The Darkness kicked off the hoolie good and proper, with frontman Justin Hawkins (looking like a skinny maths teacher wrapped in not-enough tinfoil) urging adults to bounce children on their shoulders. And they did, and then some. Afterwards, we trotted off in search of more jigging and found Celtic rock band Rhythm 'n' Reel in the Black Isle Brewery Hothouse Stage.

Nary a fag-paper could be placed between members of this crowd, who jigged and sang along as the band played its familiar blend of rock and ceilidh classics. The place erupted though when two of Police Scotland's finest, in the shape of PC Neil Rathbone on bagpipes and and PC Norman Campbell on guitar, took to the stage along with the rest of the band. This is the kind of thing which just happens at Belladrum. The crowd went with it.

Music-wise, you will find almost everything and anything at Belladrum. Indie, rock, dance music, Celtic, Celtic rock, blues, roots, folk, singer-songwriters, jazz and more. There's also an array of children's entertainment, street theatre, cabaret, cinema, alternative therapies and even wrestling.

There is quite literally something for everyone at Belladrum. If you'd like your hair braided by a Lord of the Rings-style fawn in the Magical Woodland Camp (my daughter did) or you want to listen to a debate about the Scots language in the Verb Garden (I did) then there's a place for you.

Every year Belladrum also gives houseroom to some of the best up-and-coming acts on the local and national scene. The Seedlings stage, hosted by the XpoNorth music network, which supports and promotes emerging talent from the Highlands and islands, is always worth keeping an eye on. In 2008, Twin Atlantic performed on it and five years later, in 2013, they were festival headliners.

I was blown away by the quiet lyricism of Jo Whitby (Laurence Made Me Cry) riffing beautifully with clarsach-player Imogen Isla Hay. And all before I'd had so much as a gourmet veggie burger for lunch on the Saturday morning.

The whole vibe of Belladrum was neatly summed up by Dreadzone's seated frontman MC Spee waving crutches in the air in the direction of a packed Friday night crowd. "The thing I LOVE about Belladrum," he bellowed, "is you get kids, parents, grandparents all together and all having a GREAT time."

Suggs from Madness, headlining on Saturday night in front of a packed main stage crowd, echoed this. "Belladrum's a family affair!" he yelled before launching into a ton of comfortingly familiar hits.

Other highlights? Watching a gleefully dour Wilko Johnston and fellow ex-Blockhead bassist, Norman Watt-Roy, on the Garden Stage, Bwani Junction and friends reprising Paul Simon's entire Graceland album and catching Circa Waves in a mosh pit (I think it's called) with my boy.

Belladrum memories are made of this. And I haven't even mentioned the ceremonial burning of a giant winged wicker pig as the grand finale …

Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival 2017

Belladrum Estate.

By Beauly, Inverness-shire,

August 3-5

tartanheartfestival.co.uk

Weekend tickets start at £117 (no age restrictions)

The Belladrum Estate lies approximately 10 miles from Inverness. If travelling from the south and east, take the A862 west from Inverness towards Beauly. Approximately nine miles from Inverness, turn left on to A833 signposted Kiltarlity and Drumnadrochit.

Inverness is well served by train, bus and air links. If travelling by public transport, Stagecoach provides shuttles from Inverness Bus Station to the festival site over the weekend. Tickets can be bought on the day.

Pitch Village: Tent Package for four people (includes tent, sleeping bag per person and double air mattresses) £400 plus £7.50 booking fee

More details at pitchvillage.com/festivals/belladrum-tartan-heart