Contest proposed to crown Scottish culture towns begs a new West Lothian question: Is there something in the water?
It is an honour that has already transformed Wigtown into a haven for literary lovers.
Now Scotland could soon become home to a network of new cultural destinations. Plans are being drawn up for an open competition aimed at creating a series of National Towns of Culture across the country.
The initiative, proposed in the SNP’S manifesto, is aimed at building on the success of Wigtown’s status as a National Book Town.
The designation, secured in 1998 after the town had suffered the loss of a distillery and a creamery, inspired the creation of the Wigtown Book Festival, which now attracts upwards of 220,000 visitors to the town and is worth more than £3 million for the local economy.
Around half a million books are believed to be stocked on the shelves of more than a dozen bookshops in Wigtown.
West Kilbride in Ayrshire is also officially known as Scotland’s Craft Town, while Dumfries recently became home to a new National Centre for Chil
dren’s Literature and Storytelling.
Other possible culture towns include Huntly, in Aberdeenshire, which has attracted artists from all over the world for residents thanks to the Deveron Projects initiative, which was set up in 1995.
Musical towns could include Ullapool, which hosted the Loopallu festival until recently, Stornoway, on the Isle of Lewis, Auchtermuchty, the Fife town which was home to Jimmy Shand and The Proclaimers.
Adrian Turpin, artistic director of the Wigtown Book Festival, said: “It’s about looking out and telling the world that you’re there but also about helping people identify their place and see what is special about this.”
Music tourism expert Olaf Furniss said: "The effectiveness of these designations is really dependent on how well they’re resourced and what already exists, such as venues, museums, statues, festivals and – most importantly - the individual residents who serve as the cultural dynamos.
"Ullapool immediately springs to mind but the success of Susan Boyle, Lewis Capaldi and now The Snuts, has given rise to a new West Lothian question - is there something in the water spawning all these stars?"