Customers from all over the world have got into the spirit of a Moray festival celebrating Scotland’s national drink.
First-day ticket sales for the Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival smashed records when the box office opened this week.
More than 4,100 briefs were sold when they went on sale, nearly 800 higher than last year’s total, and 85 events are already full.
Customers from 22 different countries have booked their places, with Switzerland and Germany the biggest buyers ahead of Scandinavia and the USA.
Festival manager Pery Zakeri said: “After setting new opening day ticket sales records for the last couple of years, we didn’t actually think it was possible to achieve this scale of growth.
“The level of interest has been phenomenal – as more and more tickets disappeared, we couldn’t quite believe what we were seeing.”
Behind-the-scenes tours of distilleries and opportunities to meet master distillers and expert blenders were among the most eagerly-sought tickets
Although the online rush netted the event £121,000 on the opening day, organisers are stressing there are still hundreds remaining.
Paul Bush, Visit Scotland’s director of events, said: “It’s great to see tickets are once again selling at record rates for this year’s festival.
“Speyside is the perfect stage for hosting this unique festival that attracts people from around the world.”
The festival, which has 500 events, runs from April 27 to May 1 in venues from Kingussie to Buckie and Forres. Remaining tickets can be bought online at www.spiritofspeyside.com.