The Largs Business Improvement group BID are hoping to host new festivals in the town next year, including a food fair.

BID director Stephen McDonald revealed the plan during the recent Largs BID AGM, and said he hopes that the new festival would take place in May 2015, just after Easter, and would involve and help promote local businesses.

Mr McDonald pointed out that there was a Taste Ayrshire food festival in the August 2013, when a marquee was set up on Largs seafront, but pointed out that most of the businesses involved in that particular event did not come from the Largs area.

Mr McDonald also revealed plans for a shopping festival to take place in Largs next year, with special offers and promotions, to attract customers in May/June 2015.

The Largs Live festival which takes place at the end of June has doubled in size during the past three years, reported Mr McDonald, starting off with 60 gigs, and now increasing to 120.

He said that next year the festival was targeting 150 gigs, and estimated that last year’s event attracted 10,000 people to the town, after receiving widespead promotion thanks to STV Glasgow, and Radio Clyde who sent DJ Gina McKee down to interview a number of local businesses live on air.

Mr McDonald said that the Largs BID had responded to concerns regarding lack of activities for children, who couldn’t necessarily go into bars during the weekend, by hosting live street music entertainment, and the Scotch Broth Theatre Productions McDougall Show which was sold out. He said there will be more of these kind of events for next year’s Largs Live event to attract families.

Largs BID manager John Hamilton said that the branding of Largs BID had expanded with a new title ‘Explore Largs’ with glossy leaflets promoting events and activities in the town in leaflets which were distributed to Buchanan Galleries in Glasgow, and the Hampden football museum, and as far as Cumbria.