Biggest ever crime festival is just the ticket
More than 8000 tickets were sold for events running as part of this year’s Bloody Scotland crime writing festival.
Organisers are hailing the festival as their biggest and best yet – with audience numbers up 30 per cent from the 2016 figure of 6537 to a new record of 8474.
A host of events taking place at the Tollbooth, Albert Halls and Allan Park South Church saw some of the biggest and best-known crime authors come to the city at the weekend.
The festival got underway with a special sold-out reception at Stirling Castle where Denise Mina was announced as winner of the McIlvanney Prize 2017 for her book The Long Drop.
She is the first woman to win the prize, which recognises excellence in Scottish crime writing, and she was presented with an engraved decanter and a cheque for £1000.
Following the reception she joined Val McDermid and Ian Rankin to lead a spectacular torchlight procession of 500 guests to the Albert Halls before Rankin entertained guests with tales from his three decades in crime writing.
Other big names such as Ann Cleeves, Lynda LaPlante, Mark Billingham, Craig Robertson and Chris Brookmyre were among those featured across a packed weekend of entertainment and intrigue.
And a host of other fun-filled events took place including a‘Never Mind the Buzzcops’crime quiz, sold-out criminal cabaret shows in the Curly Coo and a Scotland v England crime writers’ football match at Cowane’s Hospital – which Scotland won 6-3.
Festival director Bob McDevitt was keen to pay tribute to the top acts who helped make the event such a success.
He said:“Although Bloody Scotland 2017 has been the biggest yet in terms of authors attending and tickets sold, it has retained an intimacy and a genuine feeling of a group of friends gathering together for some quality banter.
“Everyone from big international names to debut and self-published authors have come together for songs, readings, football, plays, questions, answers and lots and lots of laughs.”
Stirling residents were able to take advantage of discounted tickets while events that weren’t totally sold-out were free to the unemployed.
Organisers announced that the festival will return for 2018 – with events running from September 21 to 23.