Dinosaurs, LEGO and Gaelic adventures are all on the bill as The Spree festival returns with another packed programme of family fun.

 P7 pupils from Williamsburgh Primary School, Paisley - Kirsty Allan (10), Alex Thomson (10), Lily McEwan (10) and Kieran Mathues (11)
P7 pupils from Williamsburgh Primary School, Paisley – Kirsty Allan (10), Alex Thomson (10), Lily McEwan (10) and Kieran Mathues (11)

Paisley’s national arts festival will run from 14-22 October to coincide with school holidays and the annual extravaganza will have a host of fun, free activities for kids.

Free events taking place in a specially-erected Spiegeltent in County Square include:
· Bookbug (17 & 20 October) with songs and rhyme for pre-school children
· Fiction Fusion and Jigsaw Drama workshops (14 & 20 October)
· a special puppet show, The History of Tom Thumb (15 & 18 October)
· comedy shows designed for kids (15 & 19 October)
· fun workshops based around LEGO (15 October), CSI fingerprint technology and 3D colouring (18 October) and dinosaurs (19 October), and
· adventures with Big Gaelic Beasties and the Adventures with the Gaelic Tree Alphabet (21 October).

Kids shows are free, with tickets available from Paisley Arts Centre. Spaces at workshops are limited and places should be booked online atwww.thespree.co.uk.

Renfrewshire Council Leader Mark Macmillan said: “The Spree is our flagship arts event and we want to make sure as many people as possible from across the Renfrewshire community can enjoy it, so we have a full programme of free activities for all families to enjoy during the school holiday week.

“This is the fifth edition of the festival and it’s just going from strength-to-strength. I think there is a special buzz around the town this year with the bid to be UK City of Culture 2021 and that will help make this year’s Spree the biggest and best yet.”

Other Spree shows for kids include drama performance ‘Anatomy of the Piano (for Beginners)’ (16 October, Paisley Arts Centre, £5).

The festival’s popular ModStuff segment will have a special Junior ModStuff event on the festival’s last day (22 October) leading up to the scooter ride-out from County Square.

Young people could also find themselves take part in this year’s festival with specially-commissioned Spree sessions including a songwriting showcase with musican James Grant and Create Paisley and a Ceilidh Trail for performers of more traditional music.

Festival partners PACE Youth Theatre will hold an October Fest performing arts festival. Booking details are available on 0345 130 5218.

The Spree Festival is supported by Saporito and Birra Moretti and features acts such as Admiral Fallow, Treacherous Orchestra, Donnie Munro, Daniel Sloss and Craig Hill.

Tickets are available online at  www.thespree.co.uk or from the Box Office on 0300 300 1210 (Mon – Sat, 10am – 4pm).