Ayr's new folk musical festival could be postponed, organisers have warned - unless several hundred tickets are sold by the end of this weekend.

The organisers of Fresh Ayr, due to be held at Rozelle Park on August 11-13, has more than 30 acts lined up to appear, including some big names in the folk world.

But unless there is a surge in ticket sales over the next few days, the whole event could be cancelled until 2024.

The organisers described the alert as "setting a deadline of optimism".

In a statement issued on Friday, the organisers said: "For the last three years we have been working towards a fresh new festival for the town of Ayr, the first of its kind and an injection of creativity for the local area. 

"We have booked some of the best bands on the national music scene and worked tirelessly to bring an exciting and bespoke festival experience to the town. 

"We fully understand the rise of living costs for everyone during this time and there are always risks putting on a new event.

"We have worked to mitigate risk wherever possible and we are close to making this happen – we are so close to meeting our margins and we are so close to being able to deliver but we are now looking for an investment from you – both financially and emotionally.

"Advance tickets sales have never been more important than they are at this time, especially with the growing tendency to book last minute for events.

"Taking inspiration from other festivals in the same position, we are now setting a deadline of optimism.

"We are asking everyone who is planning to come to the festival, alongside anyone who is interested in a day out to Ayr, to please buy your tickets by midnight on Sunday, July 23. 

"If we don’t reach our target of several hundred tickets by this Sunday we will have to make the difficult decision to postpone until 2024. We will be able to offer people refunds, but there will also be the option to roll your tickets over to next year."

They added: "We truly hope that we will not be facing this horrible situation.

"We have an incredible weekend planned so please rally your friends and families, your fellow music lovers and everyone who you would like to attend this fantastic event with and invest in the future of Scotland’s cultural scene and the future of world-class music in Ayr."

Artists lined up for the Rozelle event inckude Talisk, Gnoss, Nati Dredd, the Alistair McCullock Trio, Sean Gray, Manran, Kinnaris Quinter, Paul McKenna Band, Blazing Fiddles, Siobhan Miller Band and many more.

Fresh Ayr is not the only Scottish music festival issuing such a plea. The Mugstock Festival this week put a statement saying they needed a surge of ticket sales by today (Friday) or the Strathallan festival could be cancelled, with ticket charges refunded.