MONTROSE HAS GONE straight in at the top of the music festival charts after the runaway success of the weekend’s inaugural event.

Organisers said they had been overwhelmed by the response from musicians and visitors who swamped the town for a programme which saw some 60 free gigs staged across 15 town venues.

The team behind the programme will catch their breath over the next couple of days before embarking on plans for next year.

Proceedings got under way with a sell-out start for the festival’s only pay event, the Friday night visit to the town of the legendary Average White Band, and on Saturday the sunshine sparked a carnival atmosphere in the town.

The Town Hall piazza hosted the main stage and hundreds of music fans mingled with foot-tapping shoppers to enjoy a varied programme of performances.

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