Spring is in the air and with it comes the return of one of Scotland’s largest outdoor food and drink festivals to Paisley.
The ever-popular Paisley Food and Drink Festival will be a two-day taste sensation with more than 35 traders, licensed bars, entertainment, and foodie-fun for everyone to enjoy.
The festival will take place in Abbey Close and Bridge Street in Paisley town centre on Friday 26 and Saturday 27 April, welcoming a vibrant street food market and host of top street food vendors offering dishes from around the globe.
Some of Renfrewshire’s favourite foodie spots will be offering up some tasty treats for visitors to enjoy, including, Café Fairfull, Dark God Rum, Paisley Drinks Company and Two Towns Down Brewing, who will be offering a beer brewed especially for the festival.
Visitors will also be able to chill out and enjoy a slice of delicious pizza and a tipple at The Brew Hub tented area which will be on the grass at Cotton Street.
You can expect some returning favourites to the festival including, Edin-Burgers, Scozzese woodfired pizza, Brigston & Co. artisan hotdogs, Lemon Squeezy, Free the Chilli and Greek Street Food, as well as the Fizzbuz prosecco van and Rum Shack Caribbean bar.
Some new vendors coming along to this year’s event are Pizza Geeks, Wing Theory and Renfrewshire-based Dessert Box.
The event will also showcase an array of top-quality artisan food and drink products to purchase and take home.
No matter your taste there is sure to be something to whet your appetite at this year’s Paisley Food and Drink Festival.
There’s a packed programme of free kids entertainment for this year’s festival. A series of pizza making workshops will take place with slots available to book in advance and with some space for walk-ups on the day, in addition to free face painting, inflatables and balloon modelling.
An exciting new addition to this year’s kids programme includes outdoor chicken and cowboy show, The Good, The Bad and The Poultry, delivered by Adrenalisim Theatre, offering plenty of opportunities for the audience to get involved and join in the fun.
Another new element to this year’s kids programme is the Story Wagon, which will have storytelling performances taking place throughout the day on Saturday, as well as a range of creative writing activities for budding young writers to get involved in.
Over the course of the weekend there will be a host of live musical entertainment including designated busking stations, and performances from the Rockus Choir, Crawford Smith and Fèis Phàislig. The Two Towns Down tent will serve up a range of exciting musical talent over the two-days, while the ever-popular The Keg will have a special Stage & Bar on Bridge Street with a brilliant array of bands playing live music.
It’s set to be a bumper weekend of events in Paisley as this year’s Paisley Book Festival, run by OneRen, will also be taking place on the same weekend with a full programme of events planned. The Book Festival’s first ever Family Day will take place on Saturday 27 April with lots of exciting events designed to ignite a child’s love of reading.
Pauline Allan, Renfrewshire Council Events Manager, said: “Paisley Food and Drink Festival is always a popular event in our calendar and attracts visitors from all over to enjoy the food, drink and atmosphere on offer.
“This year’s festival is set to be our biggest yet with more traders taking part and a jam-packed programme of live entertainment. We can’t wait to welcome everyone along for two-days of fantastic entertainment, delicious street food and much more. Come along and join the fun!”
Paisley Food and Drink Festival will take place from 4pm-10pm on Friday 26th April and from 12pm – 9pm on Saturday 27th April.
Headline photo: Paisley Food and Drink Festival from 2023