Five figure boost for festivals

Three Orkney festivals are to benefit from collective funding of over £46,000 from EventScotland.

The boost for Orkney Folk Festival, St Magnus Festival and Orkney Science Festival comes as part of a widespread initiative distributing £740,000 across 65 Scottish entertainment events.

The Folk Festival will receive a £17,500 bonus, St Magnus Festival will be given £11,000 and the Science Festival a further £17,800 as part of the National Events Programme.

Relaunched in January, the initiative supports the development and delivery of live sporting and cultural events that take place outside of Glasgow and Edinburgh. The Scottish Government provided additional funding for the latest round to support the ongoing recovery of the tourism and events industry.

Culture minister Neil Gray said: “It’s great to see many of the mainstays in the cultural calendar back with live programmes and events across Scotland during summer 2022.

“I’m also delighted that the Scottish Government has been able to support this programme with just over £740,000 in funding. With this funding round we are able to support more events than ever before, from community focused events and music festivals to sporting events, boosting the number of events people have the opportunity to attend in their local area.”

EventScotland is a team within VisitScotland’s events directorate. VisitScotland Orkney development management Cheryl Chapman said: “Our National Events Programme has always played an important role in supporting the development and delivery of events across the country. We are delighted to be supporting these events taking place in Orkney to help support the recovery of Scotland’s tourism and events industry.

“Few industries have the impact events do. They play an important role in our communities, enabling us all to connect, enjoy and share memorable experiences.

“Having them in our calendar further strengthens Scotland’s position as a world-leading events destination and reinforces Scotland’s place as the perfect stage for events.”