Return of the Stranraer Oyster Festival

That the Parliament welcomes the hugely successful return of the Stranraer Oyster Festival, which took place from 2 to 4 September 2022 in Stranraer, Dumfries and Galloway; understands that the Oyster Festival, which has returned following three years of COVID-19 restrictions, is a three-day celebration of Stranraer’s unique coastal heritage, its culture, its people and its fabulous wealth of local produce, including Loch Ryan Oysters, local beer, gin and rum, as well as a variety of local produce; notes that the oysters for the festival are sustainably sourced directly from Loch Ryan and date back to 1701, when King William III granted a Royal Charter of The Oyster Bed to the Wallace family, and understands that they are Scotland’s only remaining wild, native oysters; further notes that the festival included live music from the Stranraer Brass Band, Porkiepie, Jimmy Tennant, amongst others, as well as food and cooking demonstrations from renowned chefs including, Clodagh McKenna, Tony Singh, Nick Coombey, Ewan McCurdy and Chris McFarlane, both from Knockinaam Lodge; notes that in addition to music and cooking demonstrations, the festival included insightful talks from the Loch Ryan Oyster Fishery Company, sustainable farming promoters, Kitchen Coos and Ewes, and the Solway Firth Partnership; thanks local producers including Five Kingdoms Brewery, the Fig and Olive Horse Box, Dark Sky Distillery, Crafty Distillery, Steilhead Cider, Ninefold Distillery, and Galloway Mead, Sky Art Distillery, amongst others, for serving some of the best of Dumfries and Galloway to residents and visitors, and congratulates the Stranraer Development Trust, and all involved in the Stranraer Oyster Festival 2022, for a hugely successful event and for all that they do to promote Stranraer and Wigtownshire.