Largs Viking Festival and museum in new longboat project

Festival supremo Douglas Blair announced the exciting development as anticipation grows for this year's Viking extravaganza which gets underway later this month.

The longship is to be built by the prestigious maritime museum in Irvine, where the vessel will also be an exhibit throughout the year.

It will be built along similar lines to the Viking longship that the festival has been using in recent years for trips along Largs bay and to Cumbrae.

The new longship is going to cost in the region of £70,000 but with a big fundraising exercise set to come, Douglas is confident that the festival can provide a long-lasting Viking replica ship to sail on the Clyde coast.

The festival longship in recent years has been a popular attraction has had to come from Belfast (Image: Largs Viking Festival)

He said: "We are getting the plans developed and have been in active discussions with the Scottish Maritime Museum in Irvine, and we are looking to get the ball rolling in terms of its construction, with the plan that it will be ready for next year's festival."

"It would be a seagoing Viking replica ship which would give people the opportunity to experience what it was like.

"It would be properly looked after throughout the year as an exhibit at the maritime museum and also used as a promotional element for Ayrshire, and Largs in particular, as it would also be able to attend various Viking themed events around the UK."

Various sponsorship opportunities will be made available to the public and businesses to help fund the new vessel.

The new designs for the Viking longship to be housed at the Maritime Museum, and would be seaworthy during the Viking Festival for trips (Image: Largs Viking Festival)

Douglas explained: "We will be looking at doing various sponsorship and fundraising opportunities such as 'buy a plank'.

"We have been working closely with the Viking replica ship owners in Belfast to get designs which the maritime museum will be working on, and we hope to have it up and running and ready for the opening ceremony of the 2025 festival.

"It will also help promote the Maritime Musuem in Irvine too. And once we have it next year, we will be looking for volunteer crews."

The festival organisers revealed that because a joint funding package involving a number of grant bodies could not be reached this year to bring the longboat over from Belfast, Largs Viking Festival had to give funding back to Visit Scotland.

Douglas added: "Another commercial opportunity is that we could look to a big business sponsor and their logo could then go on the flag of the new Viking ship.

"It is certainly something to look forward to, and while it is disappointing we won't have the longship this year, it will be something special to look forward to next year."

This year's full Viking Festival schedule is being prepared and will be appearing on the festival's Facebook page, as well as on the new information boards next to the seafront car park in Largs.