BOSSES of the Largs Viking Festival are in talks to boost bus and train services to the town during the popular annual event in an effort to combat the impact of new parking restrictions.
Douglas Blair, chairman of the festival, is appealing to McGill's to put on extra bus services for the Festival of Fire night, while the car park at Largs Campus will also be promoted for car parking across both weekends of the spectacular.
This is the first year that parking enforcement by North Ayrshire Council will be in operation, and there is the added issue that the seafront car park will not be available for additional parking because it is taken over - as per usual - by the Viking Fair.
The council has told the News that the parking enforcement will not be lifted for the event, and have advised people to journey to the event by public transport.
Mr Blair said: "The council's parking enforcement will be in operation and that won't be taken away.
"When the Largs Campus car park is empty, it has 250 spaces so it is something we are actively looking to promote to use during the Festival of Fire, and during the Viking Festival weekends.
"We are also in discussions with McGills buses and we are awaiting final confirmation but it seems pretty favourable towards getting additional buses so we can get more people coming from Greenock, Inverkip, Wemyss Bay, and Skelmorlie coming to the event.
"One of the other things we are looking into is possibly getting an open top bus which would drop people off at points around the town as part of the festival weekend, and that could also help with the campus parking too.
"The benefit of promoting the car park at Largs Campus is that it is safe and secure and people can walk down through Surrey Glen to head to the Festival of Fire."
Another area of concern other than the parking is the availability of trains for the festival weekends following reduced Sunday timetables in recent weeks.
However, Mr Blair said that the festival will also be in talks with train operators to ensure a good train service over both weekends of the festival.
In the past, extra carriages on trains have been added and Mr Blair said he was hopeful that the festival would receive similar support again.
He said: "We have done it the past few years and we have had eight carriages which have been packed out."
A North Ayrshire Council spokesperson said: “This is an annual event, and alternative car parking is not provided.
“Visitors are encouraged to travel by public transport or active means where possible or find somewhere to park in nearby streets.
“Parking enforcement will continue throughout the festival period to reduce the impact of increased traffic volumes and maintain public safety.”
The Festival of Fire takes place at the Vikingar! putting green at 7.30pm on Saturday September 7, with gates opening at 7pm.
Visitors with tickets can get access to the Battle re-enactment, torchlit procession, closer access to the burning of the Longboat, and fireworks display.
Get your tickets at ticketsource.co.uk/largs-viking-festival/
This year's festival, from August 31 to September 8, includes an opening parade, a new extended Viking Village, food market and much more.
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