Dumfries and Galloway Council has approved a new Events Strategy for the region. The Strategy covers the financial years 2023/2024 through to 2026/2027 inclusive.
The strategy follows on and has evolved from the Major Festivals and Events Strategy 2018-2022, that we fully delivered with our partners, and which created a framework for the economic growth of the events sector until the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in the spring of 2020.
This prior strategy then focused on supporting community events to be established and to take place safely, to contribute towards health and wellbeing across Dumfries and Galloway after the prolonged periods of lockdown.
The Dumfries and Galloway Events Strategy 2023 to 2027 will continue investment in the Signature Events of the region, and retains the Major Events Fund and Community Events Fund (see below for information on these Two Funds).
We will commission and publish Scotland's first Greener Events Toolkit, and monitor funded projects for their economic, social and environmental benefits.
We secured the UCI World Para-cycling Championships in August 2023 for the region. We worked closely with the project partners to deliver a World Championships that celebrated the endurance and inspirational qualities of the para-cyclists and profiled the wonderful cycling opportunities of our scenic region.
As with the previous 4 regional Events Strategies of Dumfries and Galloway, the adoption of this Strategy is an empowering act:
- to empower events organisers to make the most of their vision and skills
- to empower communities to become more self-determining
- to assist businesses and agencies to promote sport, heritage, arts and culture in Dumfries and Galloway
This strategy aims to sustain the existing events sector through the difficult economic and social times we are living through, to secure the long term future of our superb portfolio of festivals and events for the long term.
The aim of the strategy
The aim of the Major Events Strategy 2023 to 2026 is to develop and sustain Dumfries and Galloway as an internationally renowned rural events destination that continuously attracts new visitors to the region.
The strategy vision
The vision is to make Dumfries and Galloway the best place in rural Scotland in which to plan, manage, deliver and visit great festivals and events.
The strategy objectives are to:
- deliver the Major Events Strategy 2023 to 2026 Investment Programme - to act as a catalyst for investment across Dumfries and Galloway
- promote collaboration, cooperation and shared knowledge in the regional events sector
- work in partnership with events organisers to reduce the carbon footprint of festivals and events in Dumfries
Events and festival news
For more on local events and festivals: