Some £450,000 has been made available as part of Scotland’s Events Recovery Fund to help the return of events across the country.

This is a top up to the £2.75 million Scotland’s Events Recovery Fund, which opened for applications in November 2020, and together will support 275 events across the country.

Among the organisations receiving this support are the Stirling Science Festival (15-17 October), Halloween outdoor event Spirits of Scone (22-24/ 27-31 October), TamFest – a month of Halloween and heritage events inspired by Robert Burns’s Tam O’Shanter poem, and the Highland Ultra 125km race on 21 October set around the coastal mountains of the Knoydart Peninsula.

Culture minister Jenny Gilruth said, “The tourism and events sectors have an important contribution to make to the country’s wider economic recovery.

“We have provided a further financial boost to Scotland’s Events Recovery Fund to enable more events to take place. This will help build a stronger and more sustainable sector and demonstrate the Scottish Government’s continued commitment to Scotland as the perfect stage for events.

“Events are recognised as having a positive impact on health and wellbeing and it’s important that audiences have the opportunity and confidence to enjoy a range of different events that this additional funding supports.”

VisitScotland’s Director of Events Paul Bush OBE said, “The further financial boost of £450,000 for Scotland’s Events Recovery Fund is welcome news and enables vital support for those events who submitted eligible applications to the programme.

“Scotland’s events industry has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, so any opportunity to help the sector plan and deliver events is positive.”