Go Forth Stirling Celebrates Successful Bloody Scotland Festival

The team at Go Forth Stirling are delighted with the success of the city’s Bloody Scotland international crime writing festival which reached an attendance of more than 10,000 people across the weekend for the first time.

Go Forth Stirling, which runs the city’s Business Improvement District, was proud to be a main sponsor of the annual event which takes place at venues across the city every September.

As part of the sponsorship package, the team introduced new initiatives to enhance this year’s festival experience including a Food & Drink Trail and the branding of the Landtrain with the Bloody Scotland logo.

A promotional short film celebrating Stirling, its heritage, shops and food and drink establishments was also produced for the festival weekend.

It was played at the festival’s Opening Ceremony at the Albert Halls and in various Bloody Scotland venues such as the Tolbooth Theatre and the Golden Lion.

The result was a busy weekend for local traders with an increase in footfall as festival-goers flocked to the city to hear from a host of acclaimed crime writers.

Popular independent coffee shop Unorthodox Roasters was among the retailers taking part in the Food & Drink Trail which featured a map of local cafes and eateries plus exclusive offers for Bloody Scotland visitors.

Owner Neil Buchan said: “We had our busiest day ever on the Saturday with a much bigger footfall than usual. It was record-breaking which was fantastic!

“We were offering a £5 Coffee and Cake deal which went down well and we had people coming into the shop who had never been in before and who enjoyed themselves.

“Events like this are great for Stirling and the sunny weather on Saturday also helped.”

Unorthodox Roasters also features in the three-minute promotional film commissioned by Go Forth Stirling and produced by Focas Media.

It highlights the city’s heritage and history with clips of popular attractions such as Stirling Castle, the Engine Shed and The Tolbooth.

It also spotlights Stirling’s fantastic Food & Drink retailers with the producers filming inside a range of outlets including Curly Coo, Cisco’s, Brea, Toast, Napizza and The Kilted Kangaroo.

There are also clips of Stirling’s many and varied independent shops featuring Europa Music, Stons, A’ila Home, Calluna, Creative Stirling, Number Eight Clothing and the Stirling Arcade.

Further promotion of the city came via the 2019 Festival programme which featured a full-page Go Forth advert welcoming festival visitors to the city and highlighting the heritage, culture, shops and food and drink experiences Stirling has to offer.

A spokesman for Bloody Scotland welcomed Go Forth’s involvement with the Festival.

He said: “Bloody Scotland was delighted to welcome Go Forth Stirling as a new festival sponsor in 2019.

“The new partnership has quickly helped to expand and develop the festival\’s marketing activity with city businesses. 

“Bloody Scotland was also proud to premiere the recently completed and highly effective Go Forth Stirling short film at the opening night of Bloody Scotland 2019 in the Albert Halls which was then featured at every main venue event throughout the weekend. 

 “Stirling proved yet again, to be the perfect location for the festival as we passed the 10,000-audience milestone for the very first time. We now look forward to working with Go Forth Stirling in 2020 and beyond.\”

 Go Forth Manager Mags Fenner sees the partnership with Bloody Scotland as the start of a great new relationship and an ongoing opportunity to promote Stirling and its businesses.

She said: “It was a brilliant weekend with lots on offer for festival-goers and I was pleased to see so many BID businesses getting involved with our Food & Drink trail and creating offers for the city’s extra visitors.

“The promotional video was well received both by those who saw it prior to events at the various venues and on social media where we and some of the traders taking part shared clips.

“We were thrilled to work in partnership with Bloody Scotland and are proud that this unique festival has its home in Stirling.

“It has become one of the highlights of the city’s summer calendar and we were glad to take the opportunity to show off our city.

“Through initiatives such as the Food & Drink trail and the short film, we took the chance to inspire people to explore our history and heritage and to experience some of our excellent retail and dining outlets. Our messaging was aimed at encouraging repeat visits to the City as well as signposting Bloody Scotland ticket holders.”