The Kirkintilloch Canal Festival has won a prestigious British Urban Regeneration Association award.

The Waterways Renaissance Awards is organised by the Waterways Trust and British Urban Regeneration Association (BURA) and aims to recognise best practice in sustainable waterway regeneration and development.

The festival was selected from over 100 other entrants from across Britain.

In evaluating the festival, the assessment panel commented: "Its outstanding and exceptional feature is how the festival has become a whole town event focussing on waterway regeneration.

"This waterway festival is showing the way for other regeneration initiatives in the town by getting local people enthusiastic about debating the value of their heritage."

Councillor Billy Hendry said: "I'm delighted that the festival has won this prestigious award. The event has grown from strength to strength over the last few years and is now a major tourist attraction in East Dunbartonshire, attracting visitors from all over Scotland.

"The festival is a great example of how, through a coordinated approach, community facilities and developments can be used for events to successfully promote an area."

The 2008 festival welcomed over 27,000 visitors to Kirkintilloch bringing over £380,000 to the local economy.

Roger Hanbury, chief executive of the Waterways Trust, said: "The success of the Kirkintilloch Canal Festival is an excellent example of how our waterways continues to transform our environment, creating education, leisure and business opportunities, injecting new life into our waterways and bringing communities together. This project clearly demonstrates what can be achieved with vision, commitment and partnership working."

The 2009 festival is planned for the weekend of August 29-30, and will include a range of themed boat trips, water displays, live waterside music, a street parade, markets and fun fairs.