Paisley sparkles as Christmas lights are switched on

Nov 12 2012 by Alison Rennie, Paisley Daily Express

Paisley was transformed into a winter wonderland as the town’s spectacular Christmas lights celebration took place on Saturday.

Chart stars Stooshe were the grand finale to a fantastic day as a record crowd of 38,000 crammed into the town centre.

Cold temperatures and rain showers didn’t put families off enjoying the full day of events, kickstarted by Buddie’s Elf Parade from the Piazza Shopping Centre at noon.

St Peter’s Primary pupil Megan Steele, 11, who attends Loud ‘n’ Proud, got the crowd in County Square singing along to ‘Santa Claus is Coming to Town’ to welcome the parade with special guest Santa Claus and his reindeer.

Buddie the Elf, Kilbarchan Pipe Band, Paisley Pyros American football team, the Paisley Pirates, local dance groups and the Rockettes made up the popular parade.

Family favourites The Singing Kettle were a big hit on the Gauze Street main stage while the Red Hot Chilli Pipers spiced things up with their own unique take on ‘bag-rock’.

Clyde One favourites Romeo, Gavin Pearson and Gina McKie kept the crowd entertained between the acts and encouraged lots of youngsters from the crowd to take to the stage and show off their Gangnam Style moves.

The Christmas farmer’s market in County Square and craft fayre at Paisley Cross were popular while the St Vincent’s Hospice tea room in Paisley Town Hall was also a hit with revellers.

The huge crowd brought their spending power to Paisley shops for the second Saturday in a row, following on from last week’s Spooktacular Halloween fireworks extravaganza.

Karis, Alex and Courtney from girl band Stooshe performed their top-five hits Love Me and Black Heart, as well as new single Waterfalls before being joined on stage by schoolgirl Katie Wallace, seven, and Provost Anne Hall, to switch on the lights.

Provost Hall said: “The Chilli Pipers and the Singing Kettle are firm favourites in Paisley and always get a warm welcome.

“It was excellent to be able to follow-up these acts with a band new to Renfrewshire and making a big name for themselves on the national and international stage.

“Paisley has enjoyed two major back-to-back events which have enhanced the town’s reputation as a place to enjoy an all-day party atmosphere with something for everyone.”

Organisers had to work through the night to ensure the event went ahead as part of the main stage was damaged during construction in the early hours of Saturday.

Council staff sourced a replacement stage from a company in Ayrshire and access to part of Gauze Street was restricted as the damaged stage was dismantled and removed and the new one erected.

A council spokesman said: “This was a complex operation and we had to restrict access to part of Gauze Street for safety reasons. There was disruption to four businesses for several hours and we apologise for the inconvenience.”

For the first time the main performances were all funded through private sponsorship. Event sponsors included the Piazza Shopping Centre, the Paisley Centre, Braehead, St Mirren FC, Ingliston Country Club, Reid Kerr College, Renfrewshire Chamber of Commerce, Strathclyde Police, University of the West of Scotland, Renfrewshire Leisure and Central Building Contractors.