Drinks festival dancer serves up a twist

The organisers of a new Scottish gin and whisky festival called Nip saw a dancer at their launch event offer an unexpectedly risqué interpretation of its theme.

One of several personas offered by dancer Tina Warren

Tina Warren, who runs a burlesque club called Club Noir, was told the name of the festival and delivered her own, rather glamorous take on its title in front of guests at Abstract restaurant in Inverness.

Commenting on her act, the festival’s marketing manager, Alexander MacLeod of Peat Marketing, told the Daily Record: “Tina’s performance took the whole ‘Nip’ theme to another level. We were expecting a show, but certainly not nipple tassels.”

Outlining the original brief, he admitted: “We were expecting something a bit more tartanesque and less revealing.”

Due to take place from 7-11 April 2015, Nip represents a new image and format for the former Inverness Whisky Festival. A major addition is the equal billing given to gin, a reflection of the growing number of Scottish gin producers and the wider, particularly female demographic that this category attracts.

Despite organisers claiming to have been surprised by their dancer’s risqué performance, the event’s gin ambassador also has a rather colourful past. Although now producing her own gin locally, Brooke Magnanti originally rose to fame after writing about her experiences as London call girl Belle de Jour.

Nip’s organiser, musician Bruce MacGregor, who runs the event with his partner Yvonne Murray, told the launch event that they were keen to move away from the traditional format of whisky festivals by adding food, music and tours in order to attract a wider audience.

“Despite David Beckham’s best efforts, whisky still has a slightly fuddy-duddy image — most of my friends don’t drink whisky,” he remarked.

Click here for more information about Nip.