An arts extravaganza on the Moray coast has been given a cash bonus to help its organisers stage a major new celebration of the region’s food and drink.
The Findhorn Bay Arts Festival will use the £34,000 grant to put on a series of Making More of Moray events to highlight produce.
That cash award – and others announced yesterday – does, however, mean there is little additional cash available for further projects.
The new food and drink programme will include a mini market with stalls and demonstrations that will run down Tolbooth Street in Forres on Culture Day at the end of September.
Live music sessions will also be run in cafes and pubs, with an outdoor picnic in the park get-together planned to encourage people to share their experiences.
The cash boost has come from the Moray Leader funding pot, which is financed by the Scottish Government and the European Union.
Grigor Butler and Son, meanwhile, has been awarded £176,000 to help enhance their Kinloss luxury camping site, The Loft, with four new cabins, a barbecue hut, 12-pitch campsite and resurfaced access routes.
Moray Leader has a budget of £3million to allocate across six priorities – including helping small businesses, developing a low carbon economy and helping vulnerable and disadvantaged people.
Yesterday, programme manager, Norman MacAskill, explained the latest investments had almost exhausted the group’s cash available for tourism.
He said: “These are two excellent projects.
“Demand for funding that relates to tourism has, however, been very high.
“Most of the funding earmarked for this objective has now been allocated.
“As a consequence, for the remainder of the programme, the local action group has decided that applications relating to tourism will have to be exceptionally strong if they are to succeed.”
