Nearly one third of the £15,000 needed to save a popular book and arts festival in Nairn has been raised in just six days.
But another £10,000 is still required to plug the funding gap to ensure the Nairn Book and Arts Festival goes ahead for its 14th consecutive year.
An urgent fundraising campaign was launched last Tuesday – and £4,963 has so far been raised as of yesterday evening.
The move came after national arts development agency Creative Scotland confirmed that it would not be offering the festival a grant this year.
A Creative Scotland spokeswoman said its open project fund, to which the Nairn festival applied, is only able to support about 30% of applications.
Grants of £9,600 have been awarded for the past two years, but this year the festival organisers applied for a £20,000 grant which was turned down.
Nairn Book and Arts Festival chairman David Godden said that losing the Creative Scotland support has been a “massive blow.”
Almost 100 events have been planned for this year’s festival – literary talks, music, poetry and visual art, writing and art competitions, and free children’s events.
Tickets for the festival are due to go on sale in June, but organisers say if they fail to raise the necessary funds by May 1, they will be forced to cancel it, with future festivals also in doubt.
Nairn Book and Arts Festival – now in its 14th year – has played host to some stellar names in literature, including Iain Banks, William Dalrymple, James Kelman, Liz Lochhead, Carol Ann Duffy, Chris Brookmyre and Denise Mina.
The festival attracts audiences of more than 5,000 during six days of events.
Members of the public can donate to the festival via www.crowdfunder.co.uk/nairn-book-and-arts-festival
They can also send a cheque payable to Nairn Book and Arts Festival, to Nairn Book and Arts Festival, Nairn Community and Arts Centre, King Street, Nairn IV12 4BQ, or donate in person at Nairn Community and Arts Centre and Nairn Bookshop.