Nairn ready to welcome back visitors this year with crowd-pulling events including food and drink festival, new street markets and Highland Games
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After two years of the pandemic impacting social gatherings and major public events, Nairn is preparing to bounce back with six popular crowd-puller events designed to drive footfall to the town.
Nairn Business Improvement District (BID) is organising its three core pre-pandemic events – Taste of Nairn, Wheels of Nairn and the Christmas extravaganza – plus three new street markets.
In addition, the Nairn Highland Games and Nairn (Agricultural) Show are back in the summer calendar along with the Book and Arts Festival.
And there will be a celebration in Viewfield in June to mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
Taste of Nairn is a three-day food and drink festival which will kick off the main event schedule at the start of May.
The event was first held in 2019 and was a roaring success with more than 40 businesses taking part, including sponsors Ashers Bakery.
BID manager Lucy Harding said: “We are absolutely delighted. 2019 was the first year that Nairn BID hosted its three core events and planning for the 2020 events was well under way when the pandemic hit so they have not really had a chance to gather traction. However, our team, with support of community groups and of course our members and other businesses, plan to make Nairn rock this year.”
Taste of Nairn will take place over May 6-8.
The core event organised by Nairn BID will take place at Nairn Community and Arts Centre featuring food and drink stalls, demos and competitions.
Businesses throughout the town are being encouraged to get involved by organising their own events with Nairn BID taking responsibility for publicity and making sure everyone knows what is going on.
Lucy said its role included ensuring there were activities and events which attract audiences from within and outside of the town.
“Events are a great way to drive footfall and provide an opportunity for people to get involved in different ways,” she added.
“We are delighted to be working with the Inverness Farmers’ Market who staged a successful summer market for the first time last year and feedback from locals and businesses was that they wanted to see these more regularly.
“When our events were originally planned in 2019, they were thought through very carefully to complement Nairn’s already vibrant event schedule which includes the Highland Games, the Nairn Book and Arts Festival and the farmers’ show. Nairn BID will continue to support these, as well as our own events.”
Nairn Provost Laurie Fraser said: “I’m sure everyone will be relieved we appear to be through the worst of the pandemic and can get back to some kind of normality.
“Nairn, I’m sure, will be ready to open its doors to visitors eager to get a break away in the Highlands and between the efforts of BID, the Book and Arts Festival committee, the games committee, the Farming Society and many other organisations, we should be ready to roll out the welcome mat and put on a great show.”
The Nairn Show takes place on July 30, the Nairn Highland Games are on August 20 and the Nairn Book and Arts Festival begins its eight-day run on August 27.
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