Outdoors: A lively art festival aims to attract visitors to the beauty of Banffshire

The Banffshire coast is one of Scotland's roads less travelled, tucked away from the main tourist drag. But the area, rich in scenery and history, has been attracting artists for decades. Thanks to the numbers of artists and creative businesses in the area, the towns of Banff and Macduff have started a spring art festival, aiming to attract visitors – with a little help from an electrical wizard from 100 years ago and a maze made of wool.

The Coast Festival, now in its third year, packs 50 events into three days starting on Friday 28 May, with many buildings in the towns, from the Marine Aquarium to the Golf Clubhouse, turning into temporary art galleries and exhibition spaces.

"We've been developing the festival for three years and we think we have our strongest programme yet," says festival chairman Bryan Angus. "We're aiming for a mix of well-known and local artists, contemporary and traditional styles."

This year, young designer Donna Wilson, whose quirky knitted creatures are feted in style magazines and sold in 13 countries, makes a welcome return to the area (she grew up a few miles away in Bridge of Marnoch and studied at Gray's School of Art in Aberdeen).

As well as having a rare chance to buy her sought-after textile works as part of the festival's Fine & Applied Arts Fair in Macduff Town Hall, visitors can try getting lost in her Rainbow Maze, constructed in the grounds of Banff Castle from thousands of yards of knitting yarn, much of it donated by locals. Angus says: "It's a sculptural installation but also a bit of fun."

Kate Downie's Coast Diaries – paintings and drawings based on a journey round Scotland's coastline – will go on show at Duff House, a dramatic William Adam building on the outskirts of Banff.

Meanwhile, work by one of Downie's teachers at Gray's School of Art, Frances Walker, is on show at Banff Castle. The prints were part of a show at Peacock Visual Arts in Aberdeen earlier this year, a celebration of her eightieth year.

But the Coast Festival is not just about going to exhibitions. The programme includes workshops, family events, performances and a "Food Hub" which promises to showcase the best of local produce (look out for the kipper barbecue). Free buses run between the main locations.

The festival advertised nationally for artists to make public art responding to issues affecting the area. Angus says: "We asked them to respond to the dereliction and emptiness of a lot of properties in small towns like ours. These are artists with national reputations making work which responds to our town's history and sense of place."

Lulu Quin is creating The Sea House, a "three-dimensional animated sea" in an empty shipyard next to the harbour in Macduff, while Glasgow-based Chris Biddlecombe takes his inspiration from a famous resident of Macduff, escapologist and illusionist Dr Walford Bodie. Known as "The Electrical Wizard of the North" after his bizarre stage experiments with electrical current, he was famed in the music halls of the early 20th century.

But the star of the festival might just turn out to be the area itself. Angus says: "It's a part of Scotland that isn't often visited, but it's a beautiful and pristine coast; people are struck by the clarity of the air, the quality of the light. It's a forgotten gem."

The Coast Festival, 28-30 May. For details see www.coastfestival.co.uk

• This article was first published in The Scotsman on 22 May.