Ayr Show: Council ‘overwhelmed’ by numbers at Flight Fest

People came in their droves over the weekend to enjoy everything the three-day festival had to offer.

Around 240,000 people flocked to Ayr’s Low Green and the surrounding area between Friday and Sunday, September 8-10.

Festival-goers made the most of the entertainment and activities, and witnessed over four hours of aerial displays.

The council has also admitted that it was "overwhelmed" by the amount of people at the festival. 

South Ayrshire Council’s director of strategic change and communities, Jane Bradley, said: “We’ve just had a fantastic weekend here in Ayr.  I’d like to extend my thanks to all those who were involved in making the air show festival a huge success, and to everyone who came to the town to enjoy it with us.

Read More: Ayr Show: Festival fury as drivers waiting hours in car park

“Friday and Saturday’s aerial displays were spectacular and the range of entertainment and activities that were on offer throughout the weekend were second to none.

“Like any event of this scale, there are some things that we’ll work to improve before the next air show. 240,000 came to the festival, which is double what we expected. We were overwhelmed by the amount of people who arrived on Saturday. 

"We know that some people experienced difficulty getting into Ayr or had to wait for a long time to get out of our car parks, which will have been very frustrating. 

"We’re also aware, again, due to the sheer number of people on the Low Green, that the queuing time for toilet facilities was a lot longer than we would have wanted.

“We’ll take all of this into account when we begin our planning for next year’s event.

“Overall, we’ve had extremely positive feedback about the event itself and we’re already looking forward to the 2024 festival.

"The International Ayr Show – Festival of Flight has been a wonderful boost for Ayr and has most definitely put South Ayrshire in the spotlight and highlighted the area as a destination of choice.”