Festival’s opening weekend is a hit

Paisley’s sixth super Spree festival kicked off at the weekend and plenty of people have been joining in the fun activities and events taking place across town.

The 12-day extravaganza opened in style on Friday night at the famous spiegeltent with the unique A Musical Tapestry — a special musical collaboration celebrating the friendship between Scotland and India.

The audience was treated to a show fusing traditional music and instruments from both countries.

Novelist, playwright and performer Alan Bissett helped mark the 13th anniversary of Iain Banks’ iconic Paisley-set novel Espedair Street by hosting an aptly-named Banks Supper.

The event was a popular choice for many Iain Banks fans keen to celebrate the life and works of the much-missed author.

In true Spree fashion, the spiegeltent has proved to be a musical hot spot, with the Danny Kyle Open Stage offering new musical talent the chance to shine, while Yola Carter and Laura Cortese and The Dance Cards brought the best of Americana to Paisley.

In addition to the jam-packed music programme, there was a fantastic selection of activities for kids and families to enjoy over the weekend.

Budding artists flexed their creative muscle by drawing on digital graffiti boards and decorating their own badges and keyrings to take home, with the help of designers Paisley Pins.

Fans of the Badger the Mystical Mutt illustrated books were able to meet the pooch himself when he visited The Spree to show off his dodgy magic skills and peculiar time-travelling machine.

Future code crackers were also given the chance to learn about computers and coding at Computer Xplorers, where they tried out their skills on Star Wars and Minecraft-themed programmes.

And Big Telly Theatre Company’s Operation Paisley: Alien Pursuit set Buddies on a mission to protect the town from alien invaders by collecting clues from locations all over the town centre.

This year’s Spree features more than 60 shows over 12 days as the town waits to hear whether it will be the first Scottish place to become UK City of Culture in 2021.

The festival is taking place in partnership with local bar Burger and Keg, and Fosters, which has programmed additional acts in the Burger and Keg Live Tent in Abbey Close during The Spree.

The lineup here includes comedians Rab Florence, Billy Kirkwood , Tom Urie and Janey Godley.

The festival is also accompanied by the Spree For All fringe, which will see gigs taking place in local pubs and venues.

The Spree is organised by Renfrewshire Council, programmed by Active Events and supported by EventScotland.

 There is still lots to come from The Spree and tickets and information are available from www.thespree.co.uk or by calling the box office on 0300 300 1210.