Tickets for the whisky, food and entertainment Spirit of the West Festival at Inveraray Castle on 16th and 17th May are for sale online via the website.

Performers from Cowal’s The Walking Theatre Company (TWTC) made the sort of  impact at the Press Launch on 6th March that they will make when they hit the event itself.

They presented a drama around whisky smuggling to a special audience including the Duchess of Argyll. And there was a whisky tasting masterclass with whisky writer Charles Maclean and songs by Robin Laing.  Each of these acts will feature at the festival which is set to be the flagship Homecoming Scotland 2009 event for the west coast and a signature event for the programme’s Whisky Month which was launched in February.

The spirit of the west was manifest in more ways than one – as were the magnificent hills of Glen Fyne, seen in the background and the venue for the launch.

In line with the festival’s celebration of west coast culture, the Whisky Coast Memoirs campaign invites people to send through their stories, experiences and passions for the nation’s west coast.

The campaign aims to bring together a global appreciation of the region’s beauty, atmosphere and culture with a focus on Ayrshire & Arran, Argyll, Lochaber, the Hebrides and the North West Highlands.

There is so much to say about this part of the world. The Whisky Coast Memoirs is an inspired idea that promises to be a mesmeric collection we look forard to reading.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown, helped kick start the campaign by contributing a memoir of his own of the west.

He says: ‘Although I was born and bred in the East of Scotland, I have spent a lot of time in the Highlands of the West of Scotland. As a student, and even after I was elected to Parliament, I have walked in Skye, Kintail, the Hebrides, Argyllshire and Sutherland, often with parliamentary colleagues such as the late John Smith MP. I have many fond memories of days on the hill and in the glens; and of good hospitality and entertainment in the evenings, as often as not accompanied by a dram. I send best wishes to the organisers of Spirit of the West’.

This memoir was described gratefully by Nicky Murphy, Event Manager for Spirit of the West and Project Manager for the Whisky Coast, as really helping ‘to kick start our campaign’.

The entire programme for the two-day event is steeped in interest, variety – and whisky – and offers something for everyone. The full programme -  and information on how to contribute your own west coast memoir – is on the Spirit of the West website.