BANDS from the Wee County and the wider area are being offered the opportunity to join the line up at a Stirling outdoor festival in a competition.

The Sruighlea Festival is set to go ahead mid-August at Stirling Sports Village and as part of a partnership, local Stirling City Radio is looking for musicians from around the Forth Valley to get in touch with a demo tape and background info.

It will be a chance to be included on a shortlist of eight who will be invited to perform live on air during the six weeks leading up to the festival.

A panel of judges will then choose an overall winner who will be opening an evening programme of live music called the Sruighlea Sessions, taking to stage at 6pm on Saturday, August 17.

Organised by the FVSE Community Interest Company (CIC), the cultural outdoor event evolved from the success of Stirling Highland Games and offers visitors a mix of traditional competitions, arts and crafts stalls, a foodie festival, variety of children’s activities as well as the evening music programme.

James Russell, station manager at Stirling City Radio where Alva’s Steve Mac spins the records twice a week, said: “We have a number of performances on the line up at this year’s festival headlined by acclaimed international folk singer, Dougie MacLean and including Stirling’s own Greig Taylor.

“The evening Sruighlea Sessions at the Creative Arts Festival range from Brina, the voice of World Roots Reggae Music from Jamaica to Scotland’s greatest busker, Matthew Gibb, who performed at Stirling’s Hogmanay event in 2017.

“Stirling City Radio is committed to making this year’s creative arts festival the best yet.”

Interested bands are advised to apply via the sruighlea.scot/be-part-of-sruighlea/ website.

Matt McGrandles, director at festival organisers FVSE, added: “FVSE are absolutely delighted to welcome Stirling City Radio on board as our new Stirling summer festival partners for Sruighlea 2019.

“With match funding provided by the Cultural & Business Fund Scotland (CBFS) programme, we will be able to offer visitors to this year’s festival up to 20 individual performances running throughout the afternoon and into the evening as part of our creative arts festival experience.

“The support provided by Stirling City Radio and CBFS will help us to market our festival offering to a wider audience across multiple media channels.

“We look forward to building on the success of last year’s festival and to making this year even bigger and better.”