Concept
2004 Event
By
Jul 12, 2004, 08:58

Plans for the seventh annual Hogmanay festival The Land The Light The Locals are well underway and organisers were delighted to recently be awarded support from the New Ways Events Innovation Scheme.  This scheme, which has been developed by Scottish Borders Council, Scottish Borders Tourist Board and Scottish Enterprise Borders, is a jointed-up approach designed to develop events and festivals in the Borders.  They were given notification of this support recently by Tourism and Culture Minister Frank McAveety at a presentationin Selkirk and duly treated the minister to a sample of Borders music.

MEETING WITH TOURISM AND CULTURE MINISTER FRANK MCAVEETY

The Land The Light The Locals event annually attracts many visitors from abroad to the Borders to share in the rich musical and cultural heritage of the area.  The event has grown to include events such as curling and a Hogmanay ceilidh, along with concerts and free music sessions all encouraging a high level of participation by local performers.  Feedback from last year’s event provided proof of the success of the event and many visitors plan to return this year.

This annual influx of visitors is a significant and timely boost to the local economy and at the same time a large number of Borderers are encouraged to come out and take part in the programme.  This event has proved to be of huge economic benefit to the area.  Furthermore, many of the people who have come to the event return to spend holidays in the Borders at other times of the year ore tell their friends what a great destination it is, so there are significant economic spin-offs not only at Hogmanay but throughout the year.

The event will be further marketed in Holland this weekend when Borders musicians have been invited to appear at a large festival event near Aalten which attracts a crowd of 10,000 people over 3 days.   Real Time, Scocha, Gary Forest and Pat Douglas hope to encourage even more visitors to the Borders at Hogmanay and will be proud to promote the Borders as a fantastic place to visit and indeed live.