Renfrewshire Council’s spring and summer events programme will be going online over the coming months.
The popular Paisley Food and Drink Festival will take a different shape for 2021 – with an online programme across 10 days in April.
The Festival will showcase the rich diversity of Renfrewshire’s food and drink offer along with interactive culinary experiences, including cooking demonstrations and workshops, ways to grow your own food and much more.
More details about the programme for this year’s Paisley Food and Drink Festival will be unveiled in the coming weeks.
Following the success of last year’s event, Paisley’s annual Sma’ Shot Day celebrations will once again be marked with a programme of online events to commemorate the historic victory of local weavers.
This year’s online event will take place on Saturday 3 July – the time when the weavers and their families would traditionally take their holidays.
The move to take the events online for 2021 is in response to the current COVID-19 pandemic, to ensure celebrations can still take place in adherence with national guidance.
The British Pipe Band Championships, which were due to be staged in Paisley in May, will no longer take place.
Louisa Mahon, Head of Marketing, Communications and Events at Renfrewshire Council, said: “The Paisley Food and Drink Festival is always one of the highlights of our annual events calendar – and this year’s online programme will provide a fantastic opportunity to shine a spotlight on the exceptional food and drink offer we have across Renfrewshire.
“We look forward to telling you more about the festival programme and how people can get involved very soon.
“Sma’ Shot Day represents an important part of Paisley’s heritage and we were delighted with the warm reception last year’s online celebrations received from local people, as well as those from further afield who wouldn’t normally be able to take part in the day’s events.
“This year’s online event will look to carry on these traditions and feeling of community spirit, while offering opportunities for everyone to get involved in celebrating this great day.
“Due to the current restrictions on major events, it’s a great shame that we will be unable to host the British Pipe Band Championships in Paisley this May. The Championships is a fantastic event which draws competitors and spectators from over the UK and across the world and it’s just not possible to stage such an event right now.
“We’ve thoroughly enjoyed partnering with the Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association since 2016 and it’s disappointing that the last two years of our partnership – 2020 and 2021 – have coincided with the pandemic.
“We wish the Association, and everyone in the piping world, the very best in successfully resuming competition when it’s safe to do so – and we will continue our dialogue with the Association, actively seeking alternative events and activities to partner on in the future.
“Decisions on the remainder of our 2021 events programme will be made throughout the year, in line with national guidance and public health advice. We will continue to work with events sector and other local authority partners to ensure that we can deliver a safe, accessible, and inclusive programme when physical events are permitted again.”
Renfrewshire Council advises everyone to stay safe and continue to follow the national guidance on coronavirus set out by the Scottish Government.
For the latest local updates, visit our ‘Information, help and guidance on coronavirus (COVID-19)’ webpage: http://www.renfrewshire.gov.uk/coronavirus.