THE chairman of Largs Community Council has heaped praise on this year's Viking Festival as 'one of the best ever' after it brought tens of thousands of people to the town over the nine day Norse extravaganza.
Festival chairman Douglas Blair was giving a presentation at the recent community council meeting, when Largs CC chair Jim Phillips pointed out that it was a 'first class' event.
The festival ran from August 31 until September 8, and included the opening parade, festival of fire and a larger Viking Village.
There were traditional elements such as the popular food and drink and craft marquee, and the Hakon Hakkonsson lecture made its return after a two year absence.
Mr Blair said: "First of all we were lucky in that we had really good weather throughout the festival.
"The weather leading up to the festival was horrendous and it is all credit to the council's Streetscene team who were constructing the Viking and Scots Village.
"This year we changed things slightly and we improved upon last year."
Mr Blair said that the festival directors were undertaking a review of the things that went right and wrong from this year's festival so positive changes could be made for next year.
He said: "There was a toilets issue - the council agreed to extend the public toilets opening at Gallowgate Street a bit longer.
"We were willing to put in portaloos to help but we couldn't do that without the support of the other groups such as the Ferris Wheel and the funfair but we couldn't get agreement on that which was a shame.
"The Haakon Haakonsson Lecture was held in the Vallhalladrome and it was a sell-out by Professor Driscoll about the Govan Stones, which was good to see, and it was very well received.
"For the Festival of fire, there is a huge amount of work that goes into it. We will need to make changes at the Aubery Crescent end, as people ignored parking restrictions, and the guys who were putting up the fireworks weren't able to get in.
"We spent two hours trying to move traffic and we couldn't get the vehicle in to try and build the Viking longship which we were going to burn down, and that was horrendous, so that is something we will have to talk about with North Ayrshire Council for next year.
"Overall, I think we have had a good response back and the crowds would tell you that."
Mr Blair also praised the involvement of shops and businesses in the town getting behind the festival and putting on shopfront displays.
He said that this was something he hoped to see carry on in future as it not only helps promote the festival but helped overall with the festival atmosphere.
The festival have joined forces with the Scottish Maritime Museum to build a new Viking longboat which can be used for sea journeys around Largs and Cumbrae for next year.
Largs Community Council chair Jim Phillips said; "I thoroughly enjoyed it and by far the best yet with the shows and it was absolutely first class and you should all be giving yourselves a pat on the back."
A round of applause for the Viking Festival was given at the end of Mr Blair's presentations as a thank you for all the volunteers efforts in contributing to the success of the cultural feast of fun and entertainment.
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