Spree festival fun set to go Renfrewshire-wide

Paisley’s Spree festival is hitting the road – with the Spree for All fringe festival taking some of the area’s finest musical talent to all corners of Renfrewshire.

The events – taking place from 12 to 21 October – includes music, comedy, theatre and much more, totalling 87 shows over 10 days in 17 venues across five towns and villages.

Much of the main Spree action will take place in the iconic Spiegeltent in Paisley’s County Square, with big names such as Martha Reeves and the Vandellas and Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi appearing in Paisley Town Hall.

But the Spree for All will also see the action spread into pubs and clubs throughout the area.

A series of free shows will bring some of the best musical acts in the area to Johnstone’s Hazel Bar (Fri 12 Oct), Linwood Bowling Club (Sat 13 Oct), Lochwinnoch’s Lochbarr Leisure Centre (Sat 13 Oct) and Renfrew’s Victoria Bar (Sat 20 Oct)

And there’s also a platform for unsigned talent through the Danny Kyle Stage – run in honour of the Paisley folk music legend by Celtic Music FM – which will be in Paisley’s Old Swan Inn each day from Mon 15 to Sat 20 Oct.

Other Spree for All highlights include:

– a series of three late-night DJ nights at Paisley’s Burger&Keg bar (Fri 19 to Sun 21 Oct), including the after-party of the ever-popular ModStuff show on the Saturday;

– Lochwinnoch’s McKillop Hall will host the Alistair McCulloch Trio and Howlin’ Radio (Fri 19 Oct), supported by Lochwinnoch Arts Festival and the local organising committee for Paisley’s Royal National Mod in 2022;

– local promoters Scottish Fiction will host a night in Paisley’s Bungalow Bar (Sat 13 Oct) featuring alternative rock acts Foreignfox, Mt Doubt, Acrylic and Home$lice;

– RockUs Community Choir (motto: ‘sing yourself happy’) performing a free afternoon show in the Spiegeltent (Mon 15 Oct);

– local singer Johnny Barr will bring his popular open-mic nights to Paisley pubs Burger&Keg (Weds 17 Oct) and Manhattan’s (Thurs 18 Oct);

The Wee Spree programme of shows for kids also includes Cosmpot – a kids theatre show which will tour Paisley town centre, Foxbar, Johnstone, Renfrew and Linwood over the October school week, while National Theatre of Scotland’s unique Do’s and Don’ts show will take the audience of a tour of Renfrewshire in a special truck.

The Spree is run by Renfrewshire Council, whose head of marketing, communications and events Louisa Mahon said: “The Spree is now a fixture in an annual calendar which has made Paisley one of Scotland’s go-to destinations for major events in recent years.

“And we are delighted to be spreading the benefits around Renfrewshire, with a series of shows taking place in different towns and villages.

“The council’s events programme has already put £1.25m into the area’s economy this year – and with The Spree and the big winter events of Halloween, Fireworks and the Christmas Lights Switch-ons coming up in the next few weeks, that will rise further.”

The Spree festival is now in its seventh year. Acts appearing this year include Martha Reeves & The Vandellas, London African Gospel Choir, Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi, The Orb, Gang of Four, Wolfgang Flür (ex Kraftwerk), Big Minds, The Wandering Hearts, Tracyanne & Danny, The Pastels, Vieux Farka Touré, The Leisure Society, Duke Special, Aidan Moffat & RM Hubbert, Gillebrìde MacMillan, Des Clarke, Janey Goldey and Stuart Mitchell.

Details of full programmes and ticket information for The Spree, The Wee Spree and the Spree for All are available at www.thespree.co.uk or from the festival box office at 9b Gilmour Street, Paisley PA1 1DG.