Next Saturday 7th July is the annual Sma’ Shot Day Parade. Parade starts at 12pm, burning of the ‘Cork’ at 5pm, the parade starts at Brodie Park, entertainment throughout the afternoon at Abbey Close.
The festival came about as a result of a political battle fought between the weavers of Paisley and their employers, the manufacturers, in the 19th Century.
The Sma’ (small) Shot was a cotton thread which bound all the colourful weft threads into the warps of the famous shawls.
The Charleston drum, which was beaten through the streets of Paisley to summon the weavers in times of trouble, was beaten once again to rally the weavers in protest marches. After a long and hard struggle, the manufacturers backed down and the weavers were paid for the Sma’ Shot.
