The Largs Viking Festival promises to be a high flying spectacular this year with marvellous plane displays and a spectacular freefall from 10,000 feet by the Red Devils.

Launching on Saturday 30 August, the festival is now in its 34th year, and includes many highlights including international food markets, the Party at the Pencil, and of course, the Viking Village.

And on Sunday 7 September, at 3pm, one of the majors highlights is the Parachute Regiment Freefall Team “The Red Devils” who will jump from an altitude of up to 10,000ft at speeds of up to 120mph before deploying their parachutes. Geronimo!

Once safely under canopy, team members will demonstrate breathtaking, high-speed “Swoops” and spectacular “Canopy Formations” – both unique to parachute displays in the UK – before landing in the sea off the promenade. An informative commentary is provided throughout the team’s display and team members will be available afterwards to meet spectators.

Viking Festival chairman Alex Gallagher said: “On behalf of the Largs Viking Festival Committee I am pleased to extend a warm welcome to our Festival website. I hope that the information provided will meet your requirements and persuade you that a trip to Largs will be very worthwhile and enjoyable.” The whole cavalcade of events kicks off with the traditional Main Street parade which starts at Morrisons Supermarket at 2pm on Saturday 30 August, and heads to the Viking Village where the traditional opening ceremony takes place.

One of the major attractions which is relatively recent in the 34 year history of the festival is, of course, the international food market which has grown year on year, and provides a delicious array of international cuisine to tempt the tastebuds on any given day.

This year there will be a Scottish Food and Craft market, open every day of the festival, a vintage market on Saturday 30 and Sunday 31 August, and you can explore the first global market from Wednesday 3 until Sunday 7 September - so there is plenty to whet your appetite.

And keeping on an international theme, there will be a Norwegian Folk and Dance Group performing for the festival opening consisting of 24 dancers and 13 musicians from Norway lead by Rigmor Bjørkedal and under the musical direction of Einar Eimhjellen who has received the Kings medal in silver for his efforts to collect and preserve local folk music.

There will be a series of aerobatics displays over both weekends which will be performed by Pilot Jim McTaggart of the VT10 Company Ltd, primarily using the aerobatic Starduster Too or one of a range of other aircraft such as a Tiger Moth, FW 190, Pitt Specials.

The fun and games get underway at 2pm on Saturday 30 August with the Grand Opening Parade from Morrisons to the Viking Village which is always a spectacular occasion to kick-off the event, attracting big crowds. An opening ceremony will then take place at 2.30pm, with a formal opening by North Ayrshire Provost Joan Sturgeon. There will be Star Dance Academy, Largs Academy Showcase, and Largs Gaelic Choir performing on the seafront throughout the day.

The Viking Village will be open from 11am-5pm over the course of the festival - Come and see how the Vikings lived in a special extended living history 13th Century village. This year the re-enactment group Swords of Dalriada will be in the village with Viking traders from Germany, Sweden and Ireland providing a further international atmosphere to the activities.

There is an extensive range of fringe events, while the Tidelines Book Festival is also returning to the local area throughout the week with a range of talks and events in Largs.

The festival board are delighted to welcome Les Amis d’Onno to this year’s event with their interactive “Medieval Stable” containing two horses for the public to pet and a selection of reproduction saddles and tack ranging from Roman times through to the 17th Century. The stable will be located near the Viking Village on Saturday 6 and Sunday 7 September.

And the popular ‘Owl Magic’ will provide the chance to get a close-up perspective to our feathered friends. Owl Magic is Scotland largest owl display team who travel around Scotland with over 60 owls for display purposes, including several species that will not be found in any other display in Scotland.

And it is a fascinating subject for this year’s Hakon Hakkonsson Lecture at the Viking Experience Theatre at Vikingar on Thursday September 4 as we find out what role the ladies played in the Viking heritage - and you may be surprised. Dr Alexandra Sanmark’s lecture ‘Norse Assemblies - an exclusively male sphere?’ starts at 8pm and is sure to be a talking point.

It is going to be a striking climax to the week of festivities, with the Red Devils, and not forgetting the traditional Party at the Pencil, including the battle re-enactment of 1263 on Largs seafront, and a spectacular fireworks display on Saturday 6 September.

* For the full festival programme, go to the offical website http://www.largsvikingfestival.com/ * The sponsors include: Jewson’s, Morrison’s, Henry Fitzsimmons, Fiddlers Niteclub, The Flower Room, Largs Yacht Haven, Clark’s Amusements, Media-slave, Largs Printing Company Design + Print, St Columba’s Parish Church St Columba’s Episcopal Church, Nardinis Of Largs Limited, Beachcombers (W Irvin), Robert F Duff And Co Solicitors, Rwg Services Ltd (Accountant) and Race Watson.