Edinburgh, Scotland- Pack up your kilts and bagpipes and mark next September on your calendars for the Festival Erotique in Scotland.

Organizers of Festival Erotique, held in the Capital this August, want to run the event for the second time next year after it was billed a great success.

It was the first adult industry trade fair to be held in Scotland and was attended by thousands of visitors. The three-day event was originally the brainchild of city sex shop owner Vincent Delicato but has now been taken over by city venue the Corn Exchange, which hosted the event.

Bosses there now plan to hold the event from September 3-5 next year, subject to a temporary license being granted.

A spokesman for the Corn Exchange said today: “The number of visitors exceeded our wildest expectations and the feedback from both audience and exhibitors has been excellent.

“The show in August was a great success and I am very pleased with the way it turned out.

“We are taking over the running of the event ourselves in order to have more control over it.”

Brochures advertising the festival described it as aimed at “liberated and adventurous” people.

Mr Delicato said the idea of staging the event in the Capital was inspired by the success of the Erotica festival in London which featured hundreds of exhibitors including body artists, piercing experts, fetish fashion houses, hedonistic holiday companies and other adult businesses.

But Councillor Ricky Henderson, the city’s culture and leisure leader, gave the controversial festival a lukewarm reception.

“I have no particular feelings for or against this event,” he said.

“If it satisfies the terms of the license if given then that is no problem. It is a private event.”

The festival faced calls for it to be banned after anti-pornography campaigners described it as “totally inappropriate” for the city. The protesters want the council to reject the second application because they believe events such as the festival encourage sexual violence.

Catherine Harper, spokeswoman for the Scottish Women Against Pornography campaign, said today: “We have very strong objections to this festival and were appalled at the material on show there when we visited it. One DVD in particular, entitled Daddy O, contained references to child sex and was absolutely vile.

“We are not coming from any prudish angle. This is a very serious issue and we will be objecting to this being given a license for a second year.”

This year the only concerns council officials raised over the proposed event were in relation to body piercing and tattooing, but they did list a string of conditions which allowed the festival to go ahead.

Some of the porn industry’s most famous stars jetted in for the three-day event, which ran from August 29- 31.

Fetish fashion shows which featured cross-dressing, transvestites, lingerie, kinky uniforms and PVC outfits were staged.

Erotic art shows, dancers, live adult entertainment and dominatrix workshops were also laid on for visitors.

Organizers even held a “sex idol” contest in which contestants had three minutes to impress a panel of judges and the audience with a raunchy routine.

Adult movies were previewed in a special cinema and organizers laid on free transport to the event after falling out with the city’s biggest bus company over a risqué advert.

Mr Delicato hired a double-decker bus to take people from the city centre to the festival after Lothian Buses refused to carry an advert for the festival.

A spokesman for the Edinburgh City Council confirmed an application for a license had been received and was being considered.

He said: “An application has been lodged by Festival Erotique and this is currently being processed.

“This will be subject to public consultation prior to a final decision being taken by the regulatory committee.”

He added: “Festival Erotique must apply for a new license each time that they wish to hold this event in Edinburgh.”