Recognised by VisitScotland as one of the best free family festivals in the UK, Paisley Halloween Festival is an award-winning event that you will not want to miss.
The festival, which is expected to bring thousands of people to Paisley town centre, will take place on Friday 25 October from 4pm – 9pm and Saturday 26 October from 2pm – 9pm with the whole town geared-up for some frightful Halloween fun.
The centrepiece of the event, a spectacular, 300-strong parade will wind through the centre of the town each night starting at 7pm. It will feature professional performers, festival favourites including PyroCeltica and Spark! LED Drummers alongside community groups from the local area.
There will be more places to watch the spooky sights, with the new town centre route taking in Mill Street for the first time.
Expect to see a ghostly pirate ship, glowing jellyfish, towering puppets, bubble-blowing witches, cowboy zombies, stilt-walking trees and loads more in the parade.
In another change to the event the popular funfair will be relocated to the Lagoon Car Park and East End Park offering plenty of opportunities to keep the kiddies entertained in the build up to the parade.
As the town gets in to the spooky spirit for the evening parade, for those wanting to join in the fun but not able to stay for the main event there is plenty of daytime entertainment to enjoy from 4pm on Friday and 2pm on Saturday. There will be live performances on the stage at Bridge Street and at the County Square and eerie lighting displays on some of the town’s most iconic buildings.
Paisley Central Library on the High Street will be running Halloween arts and crafts sessions while The Art Department will have free spooky lantern making workshops. There will also be marshmallow pits and a devilish selection of street food options.
It wouldn’t be Halloween without surprise installations dotted all around town to help create that spooky atmosphere. Look out for the Flaming Gargoyle, the Ghost Ship, Giant Witch and bubbling cauldron to name a few.
The event is free to attend with lots of great spots across the town centre to view the parade but a new addition this year will see a small number of ticketed grandstand seats available offering a fantastic view of the parade on Cotton Street in the town centre. Tickets go on sale from 19 September and are priced at £15 per person. You can purchase tickets from www.paisley.is. There are only a small number of tickets available for each night so book quickly if you want to bag your seat!
In addition to the programme of activity taking place across the town centre local businesses and partners in Paisley are also putting on Halloween-inspired activities for visitors.
The event is delivered by Renfrewshire Council in partnership with performance specialists Cirque Bijou, lighting design by Grant Anderson and supported by EventScotland as part of their National Events Funding Programme.
To book tickets for the grandstand seating please visit: www.universe.com
Where possible we will update our listings to notify of cancelled, postponed and rescheduled events, however we STRONGLY ADVISE that you check with the venue/organiser in the first instance for updates.
All information (whether in text or photographs) is supplied in good faith but should not be relied upon as being a statement of representation or fact.GOT AN EVENT TO SHARE? It's free to post your events on What's On Renfrewshire, click here to find out more!
Want to be the first to hear about what's happening in Renfrewshire? Just hit 'Like' on our Facebook page, join the What's On Scotland Facebook Group and 'Follow' on our Twitter account and you're all set!