The Autumn Festival

Many congratulations to everyone involved in this year's superb Enchanted Forest, and thank you for bringing an extra 20,000 people to the area this October!

Huge thanks also to everyone involved in this year’s Pitlochry Autumn Festival - to all those who gave financial support and prize donations, and particularly to those who gave up their valuable time to help us set up (and take down) the marquee, stewarding on the street and volunteering in the marquee. During the 17 nights we strung nearly 2,000 doughnuts and bobbed for almost 3,000 apples!! We could not have done it without you!!

Special thanks to two very special ladies - Glenda and Antonia for 'managing us all so brilliantly' and for their dedication, professionalism and wonderful sense of humour!!

Also thanks go to all the groups and organisations that ran the kid’s games for us this year inside the marquee. Almost £1,700 was raised over the 17 nights by these enthusiastic folk for their group’s funds which is fantastic!

A massive thank you to all the Pitlochry in Bloom volunteers for running the Yurt storytelling and selling popcorn and candy floss, and to Claire for telling all those stories!! It is rumoured that about 1000 tiny pairs of feet cross the yurt threshold!

Congratulations also to all our wonderful buskers who turned out (in all weathers) to entertain us night after night - with particular thanks to Alan Brown and Fred the Fiddler for 17 nights of dedication and commitment!

Well done to the spooky posse of ghosts for 17 nights of spine-chilling entertainment in and around the creepier corners of Pitlochry!

Compliments to all the businesses that entered into the Halloween spirit this year, and decorated their establishments and windows so beautifully – we hope you’ll all do it again next year! The results, and prizes have already been posted on the Pitlochry Autumn Festival website but, for those of you who haven’t yet seen them, here they are again

First: Splitz Heathergems
Second: The Auld Smiddy For the Present
Third: Fern Cottage Tourist Information Centre (AM)

Some of you have kindly completed and returned feedback forms but we would still be very interested to hear from those of you who haven’t yet done so. In general, feedback was good and both the Treasure Hunt and the Best Dressed Window competition had a positive impact on participating businesses. We would be very grateful to hear all your views and comments about this year's Autumn Festival (and what impact, if any, it had on your business/organisation) along with ideas for making things even better for 2010 - so do please contact Antonia on antonia.malcolm@bluebottle.com

To make the most of this achievement, and spread the benefits throughout the Highland Perthshire region, the PACIC is about to launch the Highland Perthshire Autumn Festival (HPAF), which will take place in the autumn months of 2010. This is a fantastic opportunity for all communities in the Highland Perthshire region (stretching from Kenmore to Kirkmichael, Birnam to Calvine, and all points in between) to join forces to celebrate and promote everything that is exceptional about the area.

The HPAF will be the “umbrella”, having as its anchor event The Enchanted Forest, and will include as many as possible, established and new, quality events and festivals in towns and villages throughout the region, offering visitors a vast range of events and activities to enjoy, and prolonging their visits to Highland Perthshire.

The HPAF will not only offer visitors to the region an enhanced experience, but will also develop a programme of training, mentoring and employment opportunities throughout the whole area, with a view to retaining young people. This role will be performed by Karen Aycan who has run a successful restaurant in Pitlochry for 8 years, has been involved in various youth-related group activities and has the passion and vision to spread the benefits of her experience in this field. She will work in conjunction with Antonia Malcolm, the Project Manager, who will be overall coordinator of the Festival, working closely with the HPAF Steering Group.

An initial meeting will be held in mid January for current CIC members, Pitlochry Autumn Festival supporters/volunteers and representatives from Community Councils throughout the Highland Perthshire area. Following this, the HPAF Steering Group will be established, consisting of dynamic individuals, from across the region, willing to “roll up their sleeves” and put in the hours, working with Karen and Antonia, to make the Festival the success it deserves to be.