Motherwell Strathclyde Park previously hosted the major Scottish music festival, T in the Park, until 1996, when it was moved to a disused airfield in Balado, Kinross-shire. It has also hosted other music festivals such as Retrofest. Modern authors Des McAnulty and Mark Wilson have written novels of critical acclaim which are based in the town (LIFE IS LOCAL, McAnulty) and neighbouring town Bellshill (BOBBY'S BOY, Wilson). Motherwell is the headquarters for both North Lanarkshire Council, which is one of Scotland's most populous local authority areas, and of Police Scotland "Q" division. These organisations cover an overall population of 327,000 people
T in the Park an extension of the acts' duration on stage. On the Friday, the acts were scheduled to start around lunchtime as opposed to 5 pm; and the Saturday headliners to finish at 1 am. The 2014 festival was the last to take place at the Balado site. Despite having run on the same site since 1997, safety concerns were expressed about the Forties Pipeline, which runs directly underneath the former Balado airfield. In 2015 the festival moved 20.54 miles to the Strathallan Castle Estate in the neighbouring county of Perthshire. The 2016 event was marred by the deaths of three festival-goers