Now Enchanted Forest picks up top UK award
The Enchanted Forest has further enhanced its reputation as one of the country’s leading tourist attractions by winning Best Cultural Event at the DRUM’S UK Event Awards ... writes Craig Angus.
The Pitlochry-based sound and lights show, which recently celebrated its 15th anniversary with a record 70,000 visitors, beat off stiff competition from the Magical Lantern Festival, London and Diwali Festival of Lights, at last Thursday night’s ceremony in London.
The win, for The Enchanted Forest’s 2015 show ‘FLUX’, is the latest in a long line of awards for the Perthshire event, which recently swept the board at the Scottish Event Awards, picking up no less than three titles.
The Enchanted Forest has grown from its early incarnation, starting as a three-night run with 1500 visitors, and is now an event that attracts visitors and media attention from across the globe.
Each October the show turns Pitlochry’s Faskally Wood into an other-worldly experience, funds local community grants and boosts the local economy to the tune of more than £2million.
Last year’s ‘FLUX’ show funded 27 community grants for local initiatives, as well as donating money to three chosen charities.
The Enchanted Forest has built up a strong, ever-growing audience by changing the show’s theme each year and bringing together the cream of the crop of the UK’s arts scene.
‘FLUX’ combined the creative talents of producer and creative director Derek Allan, lighting designers Kate Bonney and Simon Hayes, and composers and sound designers RJ McConnell and Jon Beales
This year’s show, ‘Shimmer’, sold out six days after opening and more than 90% of visitors recently cited The Enchanted Forest as their main reason for visiting the Pitlochry area.
Ian Sim, chairman of the Enchanted Forest Community Trust that runs the spectacular outdoor show, said the team were “absolutely thrilled”.
He continued: “Being named the
The Fairy in the Kettle is a first book by former teaching assistant Pauline Tait UK’s Best Cultural Event underscores all the hard work that goes into not only putting on The Enchanted Forest, but keeping it fresh each year.
“People travel from all over the world for the show and it generates lots of positive press for Highland Perthshire.
“We’re proud to be driving tourists ‘into the woods’ of Pitlochry at what has always been a traditionally quiet time of year.
“A huge thanks must go to the hardworking and talented team behind the show, from technicians, stewards and volunteers to the producers and creatives, and also our marketing agency Volpa.”
The Enchanted Forest picked up three titles at the annual Scottish Event Awards ceremony in October, claiming the Best Large Event, the Chairman’s Award, and Best Marketing and PR Strategy for its marketing agency Volpa.