Despite a dreadful day of rain on Sunday, more festival records were broken, reported a happy chairman, Roger Goodyear.

He told the Journal that in Saturday's sunshine, record visitor numbers were posted.

And although the weather kept the crowds down on Sunday, he was able to report that over the two days, gate takings were up from last year's record figures.

The harbour was packed with visitors on Saturday, and one food outlet stand holder admitted he was so busy churning out burgers and fries that his fryers caught fire.

The sun also came out on Friday for the visit of Prince Edward. Large crowds greeted the Earl of Wessex who chatted with them. He recalled his sailing days on the Moray Firth as a schoolboy.

Unfortunately, he missed out on seeing the 25 strong Moray Firth Flotilla, marooned in Buckie harbour due to adverse wind and heavy seas.

All arrived safely on Saturday, and created a beautiful spectacle in the harbour, mingling with over 70 other traditional boats.

The Scottish Traditional Boat Festival basks in glorious sunshine on Saturday at the Portsoy old harbour.

There were long queues of traffic through Portsoy on Saturday, but the festival parking was free for the first time, which kept the cars moving. At one point on Saturday, the main car park and the overflow field were both full to capacity.

The festival's best ever music programme was another great success.

The schoolchildren's Ballads and Bairns project attracted a full house to their marquee concert on Friday, and the opening concert later that night headlined by the Old Blind Dogs was also a sell-out.

The Saturday night ceilidh pulled in the crowds, and many went down to the harbour to enjoy the magnificent late night fireworks display put on by Firts Galaxy Fireworks (Scotland).

The only music casualty was the outdoor concert by Gaberlunzie on Saturday night, but the musicians put on a great show at a local hotel instead.

The North-east's very own Isla St Clair was at her best in the Sunday afternoon concert.

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