Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Lochee festival fun
Community and visitors in line for sizzling August
THE date for Lochee’s first ever summer festival has been revealed.
Organisers are forging ahead with plans for the event, which will take place on High Street on Saturday August 25.
It is hoped the inaugural festivities will invoke the same community spirit as Stobfest — now in its third year of events in Stobswell.
As well as bringing residents closer together, the Village Of Lochee Partnership hopes to attract a host of new visitors to the area.
Jayne Kelly, co-chair of the partnership, hopes that the festival will be able to highlight how unique Lochee is compared to other parts of Dundee.
She said: “We’re looking for volunteers to get involved with the events and the planning so we’ve started forming committees and sub-committees.
“If we’re not physically bringing shops and businesses into High Street then we’ve got to be attracting people to come and spend time here.
“We’ve been asking the other community groups and businesses to take a role.
“We’ve got to make it as attractive as possible.
“By having things like a festival that people can get involved with, that’ll be a great start.”
The organisation evolved out of the ongoing Save Our High Street campaign, which has spent the last year fighting to improve the area.
Recent successes by the group include a campaign to introduce a security door in Aimer Square and helping to bring the Discovery Credit Union to the area.
The partnership also has plans to create a new community centre and offer greater services for the elderly.
Plans for the Lochee festival will see a gala day and parade along High Street with help from community groups and school kids in the area.
Plans are also afoot to create a speakers’ corner off High Street next to Boots about the same time as the festival.
Groups would be able to give performances on the staged area, and it would also create a platform for people to air their views.