The Kintyre Songwriters Festival is fast gaining a national reputation as the place to see the stars of tomorrow in an intimate setting. With top-class guest performers alongside a showcase of even more local talent than ever before, the 6th annual festival promises to be the best yet.

The idea for the festival came from local singer-songwriters Ross Macinnes and the late Kennth Gilchrist. Kenneth tragically died while organising the first festival and the local musical community rallied round to make sure his vision came to fruition.

With previous years being a sellout success, the festival has grown each year, both in the number of local performers and the stature of the guest artists.

Friday night from 8pm is rock night in Whisky Macs with an incredible 9 local bands all playing original material including A New Hope, The Twisted Melons and Violent Echo plus newcomers Sleeping With The Enemy.

Saturday afternoon is the acoustic open stage, open to all performers and featuring many of the festival artists.

The Saturday showcase from 7pm is headlined by top emerging Scottish folk singer Rachel Sermanni, fresh from a headline appearance on BBC Hogmanay Live 2012 and tours with Mumford and Sons, John Grant and Elvis Costello. She is joined by Kenyan-born, Glasgow-based singer/songwriter Genesee (winner of Celtic Connections Danny Kyle open stage 2013) and country-tinged artist Kerri Watt who is fitting in Campbeltown between performances in Los Angeles and London.

Also appearing on what is sure to be a memorable night are many popular local artists including Davy Robertson and Alex McAllister, Violent Echo, fuji above the lightning and The Gilchristians, in their first local appearance since supporting The Saw Doctors in the Victoria Hall.

Sunday afternoon will see a seminar on live bookings and music promotion at the White Hart.

On Sunday evening, another top class talent will come to perform in Campbeltown with a headline performance from Emma's Imagination (winner of Sky 1's Must Be The Music). With two recent top 10 hits under her belt, Emma is one of the the UK's top solo acoustic performers. Also appearing is Colin Train (ex-Follow That Camel), a regular at Celtic Connections who is also very much looking forward to performing in the town again.

Local artists include Adam Fortune, in his first local show following his EP launch, The Twisted Melons, Gullion, Colin Campbell and Rhiann Middleton. Supergroup Tales From Space will follow up their local Hogmanay performance with their traditional singalong to close the festival.

* Kerri Watt unfortunately could not attend, and was Megan D was invited to take her place