RECENTLY families were invited into the grounds of Loaningdale House for two days of music, activities and sunshine – as part of Biggar Little Picnic.

The event, which is part of this year’s Biggar Little Festival, welcomed hundreds of visitors.

Organisers say they counted 177 cars parked at the house on the Saturday and a similar number on the Sunday.

Guests also arrived to the grounds on foot.

“It was very successful indeed,” said Jim Softley, chairman of Biggar Little Festival. “We’re very pleased.”

As part of the picnic, visitors were able to sit down and enjoy the sunshine as they listened to live musicians. And youngsters could make the most of the play area and bouncy castle.

Local businesses were also on hand offering a range of food including burgers, pizza and ice cream.

Mr Softley said: “We were very conscious of the fact that we’re still in a pandemic so we went as far as we could to follow the rules. The people that came were very responsible.

“There was a great turnout. We’ve had a lot of support from people, and some asking us to do it again next year.

“The whole idea of Biggar Little Picnic was because the community – and the country as a whole – has been in lockdown for a year and a half, and now that restrictions have relaxed a little we thought it a good idea to have a genuine, community event.”

Prior to the picnic, the festival had been hosting its Biggar Links community art trail, where members of the community were invited to make their own Eternity Knot design and display it in their gardens or windows and share photos online.

The project was run by local artist Jennifer Turner who said: “We have been amazed by the range and diversity of the #Biggarlinks pieces shared both in gardens and windows and online. So many people in Biggar got engaged with out project, from the Biggar Rugby Club creating our #Biggarlinks motif with their whole team lying down and taking a drone photo, to our famous local textile artist Laura Shirley, aka The Yarn Bomber making a knitted version to install on the bridge.”

Images of the designs created for Biggar Links will be on display as part of the Biggar Little Artists’ Exhibition at Loaningdale House from October 22-24. A range of artwork from local artists will also run alongside the Biggar Links work.

For more information, visit: www.biggarlittlefestival.com