Today’s announcement of a three-year Creative Scotland funding deal has been welcomed by Wigtown Book Festival.
The £111,800 for year one restores the festival’s public sector funding to 2018 levels taking into account inflation, with a further uplift to £138,550 p.a. for the following two years.
Cathy Agnew, Chair of Wigtown Festival Company, said: “Today’s new investment in culture across the whole of Scotland is hugely welcome and offers much needed stability to arts organisations nationwide, particularly in the wake of COVID and the cost-of-living crisis.
“Wigtown Book Festival was recently named Scotland’s Outstanding Cultural Event or Festival in the national tourism awards, the Thistles. It is one of the most vibrant, colourful and best loved events of its kind but more than that, it is fundamental to the success of Wigtown as Scotland’s National Book Town and to the regional economy.
“It is a relief to know not only that this year’s event can go ahead as planned, but that we can continue to serve audiences, offer a resource for hundreds of authors each year, continue our work with young readers and writers, and help to develop Scotland’s National Book Town as a thriving tourist destination.”
Wigtown Book Festival was established more than a quarter of a century ago as a central part of an ambitious economic regeneration programme that has used the power of the arts to revive the fortunes of a remote rural community and its surrounding area.
The 10-day annual event provides a platform for more than 200 writers from Scotland and beyond, directly attracts 8,000 visitors to the town annually and generates £4.4 million for the local economy.
The festival runs a year-round programme of events and activities. This includes vital work with young readers and writers. Last year, its Big DoG Schools Tour reached 1,700 children in a part of Scotland where attainment levels are low.
In doing this, it directly supports 52 FTE jobs, something that is vitally important in a region that suffers chronic underemployment.
