Queen Mary fun helps boost Kinross coffers

festival: Thousands of visitors flock to two-day historical extravaganza

The Mary Queen of Scots Festival is likely to have had a “considerable” impact on the local economy, organisers believe.

Thousands of visitors poured into Kinross at the weekend to take part in the two-day extravaganza.

Linking in with Scotland’s Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology 2017, the festival featured a live jousting event and a recreation of Queen Mary’s court.

Thomas Moffat, of organisers It’s Not All Black and White, said thousands of people had attended each day.

“The hotels were full and people were coming from all over,” he said.

“When people come into the centre of town they visit the local cafés, bars and shops, so the economic impact is likely to have been significant.

“It’s been really, really busy, which is absolutely fantastic. It was well above our expectations.

“It was a lovely day on Saturday, which obviously helped. The music tent was fantastic, we had a really good offering of food and drink and the medieval re-enactments were all very well attended. It all fell into place this year.”

He added that the success of the 2017 festival was likely to help secure it for next year.

The festival saw nearby Balado Microlight Academy launch a series of leisure flights across the region.

The festival and flights are part of a larger bid to capitalise on the area’s links to the queen.

The idea was suggested to academy owner Keith Edwards by Graham Hadley, of Mary Queen of Scots Enterprises, which has trademarked the queen’s image and is featuring it in a variety of products from whisky to fudge to shortbread.

The first product in the line-up was a blended whisky, made from 12 malts, each 12 years old, to reflect the 12 years in total that Mary Queen of Scots spent in Scotland.

Mary Queen of Scots was imprisoned at Loch Leven Castle for almost a year, until her escape on May 2 1568. There she miscarried twins and, just days later, was forced to renounce her throne in favour of her infant son James VI.

It’s been really, really busy, which is absolutely fantastic. ORGANISER THOMAS MOFFAT

Pictures: Steve MacDougall. Horse skills from the Clanranald riders at Mary Queen of Scots Festival in Market Park on Saturday. Below: Andrew Tindal and friend Elennah Macdonald, both aged five from Kinross, at the event.