A TALENTED young musician from Ardrossan is the latest addition to the line-up for a brand new folk festival in Ayr this summer.

Emma Durkan will take to the stage at Fresh Ayr in the town's Rozelle Park, taking place from August 11-13.

Emma will join more than 30 artists on the line-up of entertainment, alongside international acts, up-and-coming stars and other homegrown Ayrshire talent.

She will perform on the acoustic stage on the Sunday of the festival.

Emma Durkan has been playing traditional music on the fiddle since the age of 11 and the clarsach (celtic harp) since the age of 14.

Now aged 30, she is an accomplished musician with years of performance and teaching experience and a passion for music. 

Having studied at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and Newcastle University, Emma has gone on to perform at popular venues across the UK, both solo and with a number of ceilidh bands.

She is also part of Indian/Scottish group The Fusioneers, and in 2017 released an EP full of her own songs and arrangements called The Girl with the Cloak. 

Other acts on the Fresh Ayr bill include multi-award-winning Scottish supergroup Mànran, one of the world’s most prolific fiddle groups Blazin’ Fiddles, the genre-bending Talisk who fuse concertina, guitar and fiddle to produce an innovative, multi-layered signature sound.

Kinnaris Quintet are also set to delight crowds at Rozelle Park, drawing influence from Scottish and Irish music, bluegrass, old-time and classical music, as well as young quartet Gnoss, who bring their traditional music and the unique warmth of their live shows. 

The festival will offer a host of family entertainment across the weekend, with art and craft stalls as well as creative, woodland and circus workshops including dream catcher making, wood whittling and juggling.

All workshops are included in the price of the ticket. 

For those looking to camp, there will be no additional cost.

Organisers will put on event shuttle buses that will run hourly from Ayr town centre to the park and back again.

Blair Parham, director of Fresh Ayr Folk Fest, said: “It is a pleasure to have acts from across Scotland and beyond, including some incredible talent from Ardrossan, performing at Fresh Ayr.

"It’s shaping up to be an unforgettable weekend and we can’t wait to welcome music lovers of all ages to Rozelle Park this summer.

"We hope it will become a staple event in the calendar of folk fans across the country for years to come.”

Fresh Ayr Folk Fest is supported by South Ayrshire Council.

More information and tickets are available at www.freshayrfolkfest.com.