THE plug has been pulled on the Aviemore Walking and Mountain Festival which has generated nearly £500,000 for the local economy since being launched seven years ago.
And all for the sake of just £7,000. Several public agencies have given valuable support to the festival since 2003, according to the organisers, but their hands are now tied. Taxpayers' money can be used to set-up all manner of projects, gatherings and festivals and support them during their embryonic years. However, revenue funding is in short supply thereafter because events must be able to stand on their own two feet and not become a long-standing drain on public resources. Aviemore Business Association, who founded and have been running the festival, put out an appeal for wider support - financial and in-kind - to their colleagues in the private sector. But when none was forthcoming they took the decision with "great regret" to cancel this year's event. The walking festival and Badenoch and Strathspey are a perfect fit and people will come if they know about it, as was demonstrated by the turn-out of over 1,000 walkers in 2007. The expertise is still in place and the festival can call on knowledgeable walk guides who give their time for free. On the flip side of the coin, participants reap the health benefits, learn and explore more of the surrounding countryside in a safe environment and will be encouraged to return to the strath time and again. The Aviemore Walking and Mountain Festival is exactly the type of event which should be supported by Aviemore and the Cairngorms Destination Management Organisation Ltd, the Cairngorms Chamber of Commerce; and the strath's outdoors industry.
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