Four Highland events to receive funding from EventScotland’s National Funding Programme

Four Highland events to receive funding from EventScotland’s National Funding Programme

 

Edinburgh, Scotland, 2017-Aug-28 — /Travel PR News/ — A knitting festival and a three-day mountain running race are amongst 14 events across the country benefitting from a share of £145,500 in the latest awards round of EventScotland’s National Funding Programme.

Loch Ness Knit Fest has received £10,500 to deliver cultural and concert activities around the festival; Scotland’s Salmon Festival in Inverness has received £5,856 for marketing and additional production and hire costs; Skyline Scotland has received £12,000 towards live relay of the event, guided walks along the route and support towards film footage and the Highland Military Tattoo has received £19,000 towards bringing the Queen’s Colour Squadron and sound, projection and marquee infrastructure.

Taking place between July and November this year, the 14 events from across 10 local authorities have received the funding from VisitScotland through EventScotland’s National Programme Fund to support their delivery and help develop the country’s diverse events portfolio.

Loch Ness Knit Fest was first held in Inverness in 2016 and uses the successful model of the Strikkefestival held in Denmark. Using internationally-renowned designers, it will include lectures, presentations, workshops, fashion shows and social engagement elements. Knitting will be the primary focus but it will also include several other related areas unique to Scotland and the Highlands – the history of tartan, kilt makers, wool production, tweeds and Pictish designs.

Scotland’s Salmon Festival, which runs from 29 August to 2 September, celebrates the iconic Atlantic salmon as a flagship species symbolising efforts to conserve and enhance the economic, social, cultural, educational and ecological value of Scotland’s rich freshwater and natural resources. The inaugural Scotland’s Salmon Festival took place in September 2015. This is the only Salmon Festival in Scotland and is aimed at both the scientific community and the general public, through offering a range of events that appeal to a variety of ages and backgrounds.

Skyline Scotland brings four iconic races to the Scottish Highlands – Salomon Mamores VK, Salomon Ring of Steall Skyrace – Sky Classic Series, Salomon Ben Nevis Ultra – Sky Ultra Series (new) and Salomon Glen Coe Skyline – Sky Extreme Series.

The event will build on the success of the 2016 events, which attracted around 2,000 participants and spectators, including many of the world’s elite athletes, and achieved extensive global media coverage. The new ultra-distance race completes the full profile of races needed to be eligible to host the 2018 Skyrunning World Championships.

The Highland Military Tattoo 2017 will see an RAF theme and also strong links to the Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology. The programme features a Typhoon flypast, massed military, local and youth pipe bands, a marching military band and an international band, highland dancers, historical vignettes and an armed forces’ competition. The finale includes a guard of honour, provided by the Queen’s Colour Squadron, RAF regiment, the Lone Piper and a fireworks display.

Chris Taylor, VisitScotland Regional Partnerships Director, said: “We are delighted to give funding towards these popular Highland events – four of the 14 across Scotland to have been successful in this round.

“The Highlands are known world-over not only for stunning landscapes, scenery and outdoor experience opportunities, but also for the strong cultural, heritage and creative links, so these four diverse events which cover many of these themes are a perfect fit.

“The National Funding Programme plays a vital role in maintaining Scotland’s reputation as a great destination for events that celebrate our culture and heritage whilst delivering real economic benefits to their local communities.”

Shane Ohly, Skyline Scotland Race Director, said: “We are delighted to be working with EventScotland for the second consecutive year, and their support in 2017 is enabling us to stream live footage of the runners from the mountains directly to a truck-mounted big screen at the Ice Factor race HQ.

“Additionally, we have been able to employ more local mountain guides and instructors to improve our safety management at our flagship Salomon Glen Coe Skyline race on Sunday 17th September”.

Seymour Monro, Executive Chairman and Director of the Highland Military Tattoo, said: “The Highland Military Tattoo is really grateful to EventScotland for the award of £19,000 towards improvements to this year’s Tattoo. It will enable us to bring The Queen’s Colour Squadron of the RAF Regiment to Fort George for the first time. They are world renowned and will contribute greatly to our show which has two special themes this year: The RAF and the RAF regiment’s 75th anniversary and the Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology.

“Where better to commemorate the RAF than a few miles along the Moray coast from RAF Lossiemouth and where better to celebrate YOHHA in Scotland than at Fort George? Some of the award will go towards providing guides to show our visitors around the ramparts before the show.

“Improvements also enabled by the award include better audio systems, improved projection, hire of uniforms for the WW1 and WW2 historical vignettes. The award will also allow us to increase and improve the pre-show catering facilities for our visitors. This year has many features which will make it different from previous Tattoos at Fort George. It promises to be a terrific evening!”

The full list of events which received support in the latest (Round 35) awards from EventScotland’s National Funding Programme are:

• British Transplant Games, North Lanarkshire: 27 – 30 July (£25,000)
• MugStock Festival, East Dunbartonshire: 28 – 31 July (£6,000)
• Aberdeen Mela – One World Day, Aberdeenshire: 30 July (£9,700)
• European Dodgeball Championships 2017, Wishaw: 8 – 20 August (£9,500)
• Scotland’s Salmon Festival, Highlands: 29 August – 2 September (£5,856)
• St Andrews Photography Festival, Fife: 1 – 30 September (£5,500)
• Electric Fields, Dumfries & Galloway: 1 – 2 September (£11,500)
• Skyline Scotland, Highlands: 1 – 3 September (£12,000)
• Bo’ness Revival, Falkirk: 2 – 3 September (£8,500)
• BOWFest, Argyll: 8 – 10 September (£6,000)
• The Highland Military Tattoo, Highlands: 8 – 10 September (£19,000)
• Loch Ness Knit Fest 2017 , Highlands: 13 – 15 October (£10,500)
• The Spree, Renfrewshire: 13 – 22 October (£10,500)
• Colours of Cluny, Moray Speyside: 8 – 19 November (£6,000)

Notes to Editors

• • Follow us on twitter: @visitscotnews
  • VisitScotland is Scotland’s national tourism organisation. Its core purpose is to maximise the economic benefit of tourism to Scotland.
  • The organisation’s core objective is to contribute to the Tourism 2020 Strategy ambition of growing tourism revenues by £1 billion by 2020.
  • This will be supported by seven overarching strategies:
    1. Marketing: we will market Scotland and its outstanding assets to visitors from all parts of the world, including the promotion of Scotland to people living in Scotland to visit different parts of the country
    2. Events: we will support the national events strategy and its delivery, and sustain, develop and promote Scotland’s international profile as one of the world’s foremost events destinations
    3. Internationalisation and International Engagement: we will utilise all our platforms to enable Scottish-based tourism businesses to better understand international opportunities and market to a global audience and we will work within One Scotland Partnerships to optimise the potential of Scotland’s Diaspora and our strategic partners at regional, European and global levels
    4. Customer Experience: we will provide information and inspiration to visitors both locally and globally via their preferred medium of choice
    5. Quality and Sustainability: we will provide support and advice to businesses, with the goal of improving the quality and sustainability of the tourism sector in Scotland. We will provide quality assurance to visitors through our Quality Schemes
    6. Inclusive Tourism: we will strive to make tourism in Scotland inclusive and available to all
    7. Working in Partnership: we will listen to and work with the industry, partners and communities to shape our offering and support
  • To ensure everyone can safely enjoy Scotland’s amazing countryside and landscapes, VisitScotland encourages all visitors to fully respect their surroundings by behaving in a responsible and appropriate way.
  • VisitScotland works together with tourism businesses to make tourism a success for everyone and ensure the industry continues to grow.
  • The organisation employs 700 people and has offices and VisitScotland Information Centres across Scotland.
  • Spending by tourists in Scotland generates around £12 billion of economic activity in the wider Scottish supply chain and contributes around £6 billion to Scottish GDP (in basic prices). This represents about 5% of total Scottish GDP
  • The Scottish Government is the Managing Authority for the European Structural Funds 2014-20 Programme. For further information visit www.gov.scot or follow @scotgovESIF
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  • Where possible, a Gaelic speaker will be made available for broadcast interviews on request (Far an tèid iarraidh, agus far am bheil sin nar comas, bruidhinnidh neach le Gàidhlig aig agallamh)

2017 Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology

• 2017 is the year to delve into the past and discover Scotland’s fascinating stories through a wide-ranging variety of new and existing activity to drive the nation’s tourism and events sector, boosting tourism across Scotland.
• The Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology begins on 1 January 2017 and will end on 31 December 2017. It will build on the momentum generated by previous themed years in Scotland including the 2015 Year of Food and Drink, Homecoming Scotland 2014, the Year of Creative and the Year of Natural.
• The Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology is a Scottish Government initiative being led by VisitScotland, and supported by a variety of partners including Creative Scotland, Scottish Tourism Alliance, Scottish Enterprise, The National Trust for Scotland, Historic Environment Scotland, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Built Environment Forum Scotland, Heritage Lottery Fund, Museums Galleries Scotland and Traditional Arts and Culture Scotland.
• The Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology is supported by £570,000 of Scottish Government funding.
• The Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology events fund is managed by EventScotland, part of VisitScotland’s Events Directorate.
• For more information visit visitscotland.com/HHA2017 or join the conversation at #HHA2017

Contact:
Kim Walton
Corporate Press Officer
North Region, Expo
Kim.Walton@visitscotland.com
01224 269187
Out of hours – 0131 472 2324

Source: VisitScotland

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