SCOTLAND’S Year of Creativity has led to a cash boost for a Borders-based festival.
An award of £5,000 will see the popular Traquair Medieval Fayre transform into the Traquair Shakespeare Festival.
The money for Traquair is a share from a pot of more than £300,000 available to help attract more visitors to Scotland this year. The One Step Further investment programme aims to enhance festivals and events with a focus on cultural tourism.
The £5,000 transformation will see the Traquair Shakespeare Festival make a unique contribution to the World Shakespeare Festival and Cultural Olympiad. The celebration of the life and times of William Shakespeare will feature productions, workshops and master classes.
Andrew Dixon, chief executive of Creative Scotland, said: “Scotland is a year-round festival nation, with an exciting programme of world-class events, festivals and culture for all to enjoy.
“This announcement takes us one step further in attracting more tourists to Scotland to enjoy our rich cultural programme and ensuring that Scotland is recognised as a leading creative nation.”
There are more than 380 festivals taking place across the country this year, all of which can be found in the Guide to Scotland’s Festivals 2012, free with February’s List magazine.
Mr Dixon advised: “Grab your copy and you’ll be left with no doubt that Scotland truly is a Festival Nation.”
VisitScotland’s regional director Paula McDonald said: “Scotland is unquestionably one of the most creative countries in the world and these festivals will help showcase that vibrant creativity to new audiences.
“Our culture is one of our greatest assets and a major draw for visitors – that’s why this programme is so important – it’s providing opportunities for visitors as well as local communities right across Scotland.”
The Year of Creative Scotland is a Scottish Government initiative led in partnership by EventScotland, VisitScotland, Creative Scotland and VOCAL. More information and resources to help businesses engage with Year of Creative Scotland are available at www.visitscotland.org/yearofcreativescotland-toolkit. Creative Scotland will invest around £6.5million of National Lottery funds into a programme to support the year’s events.