Helensburgh residents are being invited to enjoy a day of fun, food, and music this weekend as Colquhoun Square is transformed into a Summer Festival.

Organised by the same committee, the event aims to raise funds for the Helensburgh Winter Festival.

There will be around 45 stalls in the square, a range of fairground rides suitable for young children right up to teenagers, and entertainment from a number of local buskers.

Representatives from Helensburgh Fire Station will also be in attendance and will host a water awareness event.

A tour of the town will be led by Helensburgh Heritage Trust, leaving from the Parish Church at 11am.

Rhu-based boating company You and Sea will have a stall at the Summer Festival and will be offering boat trips.

Gail Broadhurst MBE, chair of the festival, hopes the event will provide a strong base for this year’s Winter Festival.

She said: “If you only rely on grants, you’re setting yourself up for failure.

“As a charity, 80 per cent of your income should come from other events.

“If we continue to rely on Argyll and Bute giving us a grant, the Winter Festival will eventually disappear, so we’ve just been thinking about different ways to do it.

“Hopefully, we might to some other events later in the year.”

Helensburgh's events calendar included a one-day Summer Festival until Covid intervened in 2020, while a one-off 'Summer in the Square' event was held last August, but neither had any involvement from the Winter Festival team.

This year will see the Winter Festival celebrate its 10th anniversary.

Gail added: “I don’t think we ever expected to be celebrating our 10-year anniversary, but we are so grateful for everybody’s support.

“I think what it says about the town is that there are people willing to go out on a limb and do something for the town.

“Some people say it does nothing for them, but some people say it’s the best weekend of business in the year.

“It showcases Helensburgh and what we have to offer and people do come and make a weekend of it.”

The Summer Festival will be held from 10am-5pm on Saturday June 18.