One of the highlights of the Scottish music festival calendar is to cease after 36 years.
The internationally-renowned Auchtermuchty Festival is to fold, with one of the remaining organisers stating there was no longer enough manpower to stage the event.
A public meeting will take place next month where the event, which has focused on traditional music, will be formally wound up.
The extraordinary public meeting is likely to approve the recommendation of trustees calling for the festival’s organising society to be dissolved, with its remaining assets handed over to the local community trust.
Eric Titterington, festival secretary, said residents now had less time to contribute to its organisation, and that the remaining three committee members could no longer carry the burden of hosting the 10-day event.
“Last year we ran a festival of sorts, but with three people it is almost impossible to run a festival.
“We had discussions to try and find more people but the position in the end was that we had no real option but to dissolve.
“In the past 36 years the whole of the Auchtermuchty community has changed.
“It used to be very close-knit and the festival was something that brought everybody together.
“But nowadays the majority of people who live in Auchtermuchty work elsewhere and a lot of people just don’t have the time to help out.”
Starting in 1981, the Auchtermuchty Festival placed a large emphasis on traditional music, while family events were also at the heart of the event.
Thousands of visitors descended on the village, with many choosing to stay at a specially established camp site for the festivities.
In recent years increased levels of red tape has placed even greater strain on those left organising the event and a meeting to be held in the Upper Town Hall on April 19 is likely to signal the end of the event in its current form, though Mr Titterington is hopeful that it may be restarted at some point in the future.
“I’ve been involved since 1981 and it’s been a huge part of my life,” he said.
“The assets are being transferred to the community trust and hopefully if somebody wants to start a festival then what we have left could be used for it, so there is hope yet.”