Festival was most successful Spree yet
This year’s Spree festival was the biggest and best yet according to organisers.
The 10-day festival, organised by Renfrewshire Council, took place from October 12 to 21.
There were an estimated 11,000 attendances – the most yet in the festival’s seven-year run – and the highest ticket sale figures recorded, with several shows completely sold out.
Louisa Mahon, head of Renfrewshire Council’s events, marketing and communication team, said:“We had 87 shows taking place in 17 different venues across five towns and villages over 10 days – so it was definitely our biggest yet, and looking at our various indicators, also our best.
“The Spree is a fantastic opportunity each year to showcase Paisley and Renfrewshire to visitors.
“We know from ticket-buying information we already have that people travelled from as far as Dublin and Barcelona to see their favourite singers and bands.
“Visits such as these generate new spend in Renfrewshire’s economy and local businesses can benefit from that.
“We will be researching the impact of the festival in more detail, but the early signs are that another successful staging of The Spree has been a huge boost to the area.”
Music fans were treated to a spectacular show from Motown legend Martha Reeves and an intimate question-and-answer session with Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi – both in Paisley Town Hall – as well as a series of hugely-popular gigs in the fantastic speigeltent, located in County Square during the festival.
A‘Wee Spree’programme of activities for kids was timed to coincide with the October school holidays and saw youngsters enjoy everything from comedy to computer coding.
The Spree for All fringe programme was extended this year to take in events in Renfrew, Johnstone, Linwood and Lochwinnoch. In Paisley, the Danny Kyle Stage, in honour of the local singersongwriter, was hosted by The Old Swan Inn for the first time.
The pub’s owner, Jacqueline McCaig, added:“What a great week we had for the Danny Kyle Stage at The Old Swan. “Our customers thoroughly enjoyed it. “Three was a fantastic atmosphere all week, with outstanding talent from far and wide.”