From 25 - 26 October, Paisley Halloween Festival will celebrate its 10th anniversary. To celebrate this milestone, some exciting event changes have been introduced, including the return of the much-loved parade. Community engagement and accessibility are at the heart of this Halloween festival.
We caught up with Suzi Maciver, Commissioning & Creative Events Lead for Renfrewshire Council to find out more.
Paisley Halloween is a free-to-attend event, which attracts a wide range of people with a huge variety of needs. We know there is no one size fits all approach to accessibility. We are committed to making the event as inclusive and accessible as we can, for as many people as possible.
Our team has gained valuable insight into every day accessibility challenges and barriers. This was achieved through consultations and site visits with partners such as Disability Resource Centre, Gateway Intensive Support Service, Renfrewshire Learning Disability Service, Shopmobility and Renfrewshire’s Lived Experience Panel. Feedback from families attending the event was also very important.
This has allowed us to think through what practical solutions we can put in place at the event to make things easier for our audiences. These include:
One of the biggest challenges is that the event takes place in a busy town centre. The centre piece of the programme, the parade, also takes place when it is dark.
Tremendous effort from the Council teams, local businesses, transport companies and residents, goes into making sure a full town centre shut down can be implemented safely and effectively. But, we know that many individuals with accessibility needs, may not wish to come into a busy town centre, especially at night.
Despite this, Paisley presents a huge opportunity in how compact its town centre is and how accessible it is by public transport. It has links to Glasgow, wider Renfrewshire and beyond.
Paisley Halloween PyroCeltica performer. Credit: Jamie Simpson.
The businesses and local community are particularly engaged with Paisley Halloween Festival, and the opportunity that the event presents. These include footfall, local spend, participation, volunteering and showcasing local talent. The event generates significant civic pride and sentiment for the town. We know our residents are passionate about Paisley Halloween.
This is the first year we’ve had a town centre wide fringe programme, featuring trails, workshops, performances, markets and live music nights before, during and after the event. Many businesses are opening late during the festival, decorating their windows, and offering themed menus and activities or trading as street food vendors. It’s great to see so many businesses involved in making Paisley a go-to destination for Halloween, for day trippers and overnight visitors alike.
Preparation for the parade has been underpinned by a creative workshop programme. The programme has generated more than 1,000 opportunities for the local community to participate and co-design elements of the parade. Many groups come from our lesser heard communities. These include:
They participate in mask, puppet and flag making, dance and movement and puppeteering, as they gear up to showcase their talents as part of the parade.
This is the first year we’ve had the parade at the event since 2019 and it stands to be our biggest yet. It will feature more than 350 participants from local community groups and professional acts winding through the town centre on an extended 2.4 km route.
We have returning favourites PyroCelitca and Spark! LED Drummers, and some brand-new surprises. Expect to see a ghostly pirate ship, glowing jellyfish, bubble blowing witches, cowboy zombies, stilt walking trees and lots more.
The parade will start at 7pm each night and last approximately 60 minutes. There will be more places you’ll be able to see it from too, with the route taking in Mill Street for the first time.
The event is free-to-attend but this year there is the option to purchase tickets for new grandstand seating offering a fantastic view of the parade.
Our ambition is to continue to deliver Paisley Halloween as a free-to-attend event that is as accessible and inclusive as possible for our local community and beyond. We offer an exciting and entertaining programme inspired by contemporary culture.
Paisley has become Scotland's home of Halloween and we can’t wait to welcome thousands of visitors when our award-winning festival returns.
Find out more about Paisley Halloween Festival on Paisley.is