Paisley's Christmas
Delivered on behalf of Renfrewshire Council, this family festive event was organised in collaboration with Paisley First, a non-profit organisation set up to deliver a Business Improvement District.
The event was held in the town centre and ran from Thursday 30 November until Friday 30 December 2022 and attracted more than 30,000 visitors.
Scotland’s Theme Park was invited to initially provide ideas to create a magical family Christmas experience and deliver key components including a custom built undercover ice-rink specifically purchased for the event and festive rides including a Victorian Carousel, Santa’s Flying Balloons and Candy Cane Bungee Trampolines. We were appointed to project manage the ice rink, outside rides and the food & drink outlets at County Square and High Street for a one year contract. Responsibilities included managing event licenses, pavement permits, road closures, staffing and first aid provision, in addition to the event install, build and derig.
We also supplied bespoke heated wooden chalet style pods, featuring built-in phone chargers, to provide an added feature by the ice-rink.
We designed and built an innovative online ticket kiosk at no cost to the client. Aware of the pressures on peoples’ spending at this time of year, online discounts were created for selected local postcodes, which generated a high uptake, as well as for students and Young Scot Card holders. On the launch day, an exclusive preview was held for local community groups who were invited to experience activities free of charge.
Key to the successful delivery of the event was consistent communication with the client and key personnel working on the project, especially during the initial days installing the attractions where we required to liaise with many different departments within Renfrewshire Council on the logistics. This also presented a challenge with so many different services involved, from health and safety and roads to licensing and ticket sales.
In support of our client’s objectives, we also arranged dedicated ASN sessions to be held on the ice-rink. Designed to create a more sensory friendly environment, visitor capacity on the ice-rink was reduced and both the sound and lighting toned down to make the experience quieter and more comfortable.
In collaboration with Renfrewshire Council’s inhouse team, we created a robust marketing strategy that focused on rewarding local citizens as well as reaching out to visitors keen to enjoy a new experience. We created a bespoke website for the event, saving the client significant costs and delivered a partnership marketing strategy that featured social media management, including advertising, outdoor and radio advertising and PR activity to ensure all target audiences were addressed.
Wherever possible sustainable measures were put in place to reduce as much wastage and emissions as possible. Approximately, 560kg of waste was recycled and no waste was diverted to landfill.
A key challenge we had to overcome was the time constraint in delivering the event from the contract appointment however, a strong collaborative work ethic was established amongst all teams from the beginning with everyone successfully working well together, determined to create a memorable event for all visitors.
During the event independent surveys were undertaken by the client to gauge feedback on the event.
• 86% who attended Paisley’s Christmas were from Renfrewshire. 66% were from within Paisley. 13% came from elsewhere in Scotland but still relatively local (Glasgow and surrounding areas).
• Average number of days attended was 1.4
• Average dwell time was just over 2 and half hours.
• Most commonly attended activities were the market stalls, funfair and ice-rink.
• 93% scored the overall visit to Paisley’s Christmas an 8, 9 or 10 (out of 10) and 97% indicated they were satisfied overall
•100% of attenders were confident regarding Health & Safety at the event(s) / activities
• 53% heard about the event via word of mouth, 38% saw a poster, leaflet or banner in Paisley and 32% via ‘Paisley.is’ Facebook page
PUBLIC FEEDBACK
“Seeing everyone out and about and all the kids getting excited”
“Great for the kids and brings the imagination out”
“The fact younger children can use the ice rink due to the clips on the shoes such a good idea”
“All of it, being with family and seeing my grandkids faces”
“The ice skating and funfair is good fun”
“There’s lots going on. Everyone is having a good time”
“I loved the Scandinavian huts. Gives it a nice Xmas feel. They look great and the hot dogs were magic”
“Nice atmosphere in the town centre to get everyone in the Christmas spirit”