The burns an’ a’ that! Festival have appointed a new Festival Director and management company.

In a further boost to the Festival, the 2008 event has been extended to run for eight days from Saturday May 17 until Sunday May 25.

The Director of the Festival will be Michael McDaid who joins from the Six Cities Design Festival, based in Glasgow, where he was Business & Learning Manager. His previous success was for several years as the Director of the Inverness Film Festival.

Producing the Festival for 2008 and 2009 is Liz Hobbs Concerts and Events. The company who have an impressive track record of organizing events around the country, produced the first ever Rock At The Racecourse at Ayr Racecourse in May this year which was highlighted as a major success of the 2007 Burns Festival.

Burns an’ a’ that! Festival was established in 2002. In 2007 it attracted over 50,000 visitors to the range of events and activities and generated over £1m for the local economy.

The festival is managed by Burns Festival Company, with the board of directors representing the principal funding partners, South Ayrshire Council, Scottish Enterprise Ayrshire, VisitScotland and EventScotland and the Robert Burns World Federation who sit on the board in an advisory capacity.

For further information please contact Jo Spry of the Liz Hobbs Group on 08700 702 702 or Iain Ferguson on 07795 565691. Website address www.burnsfestival.com