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EVERYDAY lifesavers will be in the spotlight during the second Moray Blue Light Festival.
The roles of the police, fire service, RNLI, RAF, coastguard and many others will be the focus of the festival at Moray College UHI in March, which aims to "celebrate the services and educate the public".
Two third-year event management students at the college, Lorna Leil and Chloe O’Connor, have organised the festival as part of their degree course.
The duo said: "This is a chance to meet your real-life heroes and see what they do on a daily basis. We are hoping to raise awareness of the services and also bring the local community together to celebrate them."
Emergency services lined up to attend include Police Scotland, Scottish Fire and Rescue, RNLI, HM Coastguard, Police Scotland Youth Volunteers, Moray Inshore Rescue Organisation, Safety Camera Scotland, North East Rider Volunteers, Scottish Charity Air Ambulance and 2622 Squadron from RAF Lossiemouth.
The Morayvia heritage centre team will also be there, along with food vendors and children’s rides.
Around 1000 people turned out for the event last year. The organisers said: "Sirens were ringing around the car park as youngsters were allowed experience inside of the emergency vehicles – including being locked in the back of a police van."
North East Rider volunteer Patrick Costello, who took part in the inaugural festival, said the opportunity to raise awareness was invaluable. He said last year's event was "amazing", adding: "I don’t think we expected this amount of interest."
Staff from the Sandpiper Wildcat Trust will be on hand to demonstrate CPR. Firefighters will be bringing their virtual reality headsets, which proved popular last year.
Other activities for children include face painting and body art, and sand art with an emergency services theme. The Inkwell Community Kitchen will run a cupcake decoration stall with a blue light theme.
Many of the services rely on volunteers, and recruitment information will be available.
The student organisers hope to go bigger and better this year and issued thanks to sponsors Springfield Properties, Johnston’s of Elgin, C&R Taxis and Lifestyle Magazine for their backing.
The event will run between noon to 3pm on Saturday, March 14. For more information visit Moray Blue Light Festival on Facebook or email Lorna and Chloe at moraybluelight@gmail.com.
