LORRAINE BREMNER MCBRIDE: Visitors bring the buzz back to the city centre
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
On Saturday, May 20 our Classic Vehicle Show with entertainment returns to Inverness city centre.
Vehicles will be on display in city centre locations from 11am to 2pm and the High Street finale parade starts at 3pm.
With 160+ vehicles to see ranging from motorbikes over 100 years old and cars from 1933, as well as the 1959 Albion Claymore local grocer van making its debut appearance since its restoration, and also the replica Back to the Future DeLorean there’s something for all ages to enjoy.
It is great to see visitor numbers again increasing in the city centre with the resultant vibrancy and buzz their presence brings.
An estimated 500,000 people per annum are also expected to attend the new Inverness Castle Experience when it opens in spring 2025 and from the taster video shared by the team – at https://invernesscastle.scot in case you missed it – the attraction looks truly magnificent and well worth waiting for.
One question to ponder, though, is how will our visitors get here and get about the city centre in future? The Active Travel proposals for Academy Street and the city centre are part of a wider strategy that is outlined in the Scottish Government’s ‘Route Map to achieve a 20 per cent reduction in car kilometres by 2030’ making the need to have excellent public transport infrastructure that is reliable, affordable, accessible and regular even more essential.
You can read it at https://www.transport.gov.scot/media/50872/a-route-map-to-achieve-a-20-per-cent-reduction-in-car-kms-by-2030.pdf
Around 45 per cent of car trips are under 8km in length, and as these short journeys account for just 12 per cent of total car kms overall it is likely to not be as often by car.
One final date for the diary, and something else to look forward to, is that the 650 floral displays planned for the city (with support from the Inverness Common Good Fund) will be installed in just over a month’s time thanks to many months of hard work and dedication by the skilled High Life Highland Team at the Botanic Gardens.
