Vital funding has secured the Stranraer Oyster Festival for the foreseeable future

The council has granted almost £30,000.

The Stranraer Osyter Festival is safe for years to come.
Author: Ruth RidleyPublished 22nd Oct 2024

The Stranraer Oyster Festival has been granted just short of £30,000 from the council, securing its future for many years.

The popular annual West Coast attraction has been recently added to the local authority’s Signature Event programme due to its contribution to attracting a vast number of tourists every year to the area – around 25,000 people came this year.

Stranraer Development Trust (SDT) organise and deliver the weekend event and will be allocated £28,000 for the next three years.

Romano Petrucci from SDT has been a prominent figure in turning plans into a reality for the festival and he is over the moon with the news.

“The £28,000 is a guaranteed amount for the next three years from the council so we know we can start making plans that far ahead. It is absolutely just super news.”

Petrucci adds he’s already got plans in the pipeline: “This finance will absolutely help us make the site more secure, more approachable, and more cosmetically pleasing. That’s certainly been the early plans we’ve been discussing.”

Usually, the team tries to make plans early but they run the risks of increased costs or losing a sale waiting on funding months later.

Now, they are looking forward to making plans concrete from the get-go.

“We’ve got quite a lot done at the moment and we’ve got a few things lined up with major stakeholders. It’s just lovely being able to go into those meetings with the power of knowing we’re not waiting six months to see if we’ve got funding or not.

“The reality is the preparation begins immediately – as soon as the last festival ends.

“To have that kind of level of funding in the bank allows you to go to speak with marquee companies and celebrity chefs and all the other big major providers, knowing that it’s not a case of saying to them ‘That’s a really great price, it’s an early price, it saves us money.

“‘But unfortunately, we’re going to have to wait for funding, and it might be April, May, June, and quite often July before we know what level of funding we’ve got and therefore whether we can afford this or not.’”

“And by that time, they can either have sold on or already increased their prices. So, from that point of view, it gives us that power right at the beginning of the year and it’s an absolute boost and massive bonus to our preparations.”

Kirkcudbright Galleries Exhibitions will also receive the same funding from the council.

The Signature Event programme and advancement initiative is part of the regional Events Strategy 2023-2027, and has an annual budget of £275,000.

The two events will be joining The Big Burns Supper, the Arts Festival, Spring Fling, the Scottish Rally, World Championship Ice Hockey in Dumfries, Wigtown Book Festival, and the Tour of Britain which are all part of the Signature Events programme.

Together, they are worth almost £10 million to the local economy.

Councillor Maureen Johnstone, Chair of the Council’s Education, Skills and Community Wellbeing Committee said,

“I’d like to congratulate the Oyster Festival and the council’s own Kirkcudbright Galleries for the contribution they make to culture, heritage and tourism in our region. Their designation as Signature Events of Dumfries and Galloway is completely merited and will add to our region’s reputation for hosting wonderful festivals and events.”

Dumfries and Galloway Council’s total funding for the Signature Events in next year’s financial year will be £188,000.

Hear all the latest news from across the UK on the hour, every hour, on Greatest Hits Radio on DAB, at greatesthitsradio.co.uk, and on the Greatest Hits Radio app.