Post by justjohn on Feb 12, 2008 3:10:45 GMT -7
A bid is being made to give an alternative music festival in south west Scotland a Polish flavour.
Organisers of the Wickerman event near Kirkcudbright hope to reach out to the growing community in Dumfries and Galloway and further afield.
That includes incorporating bands from Poland in the line-up and producing publicity material for Polish speakers.
The event is seeking funding from the local council to support the development of its programme.
Staged on farmland near Dundrennan, the July event has already been reclassified as being of international quality by Visit Scotland.
It is estimated the festival generates economic activity worth about £1.75m.
The organisers are now seeking a £7,000 council grant to finance two pilot projects for 2008.
Marketing strategy
The first is designed to open up the festival to the growing Polish community - both locally and nationally.
They want to include Polish acts as part of the programme line-up and develop a marketing strategy to target Polish speakers in their own language.
The second pilot scheme involves working with local accommodation providers and the forestry commission to offer mountain bike taster sessions to festival-goers.
The Wickerman Festival is now in its seventh year and won the Grassroots Festival of the Year award in 2007.
Among the acts confirmed for this year's event are Sham 69, Hugh Cornwell and The Kazoo Funk Orchestra.
Story from BBC NEWS:
news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/south_of_scotland/7240483.stm
