Plans unveiled for Perth’s biggest Winter Festival

The festival will last from Bonfire Night to February's Chinese New Year. Picture: Complimentary

The celebrations will last from Bonfire Night on 5 November until the Chinese New Year Celebrations on 3 February.

The Perth Winter Festival will include a Christmas Lights Festival on 23 November, featuring an appearance from television presenter Mark Wright, with music from Britain’s Got Talent finalists The Luminites and Eric Faulkner’s Bay City Rollers.

Also planned for the celebrations by Perth and Kinross Council are Scotland’s first ever Outdoor Chocolate Festival between 22 and 24 November, history and horror tours of the city centre every Friday in November, a range of markets, an ice rink and a festively-themed outdoor cinema between 20 and 24 December.

Councillor John Kellas, the council’s Enterprise and Infrastructure convener, said: “Now that we are a city, we have to act like a city.

“We have been hugely ambitious in our organisation of this year’s events, including the annual Christmas lights switch-on. We want to create a bustling and atmospheric city centre over the winter - a place where people want to be. The Perth Winter Festival will feature a huge range of attractions and entertainment for all the family. There will be entertainment and events in the city centre every weekend for the duration of the festival.“

He added: “We are very keen for local community groups to get involved. If there are groups interested in providing entertainment, such as choirs or musical groups. There are also a number of opportunities for local businesses to get involved in the success of the Winter Festival by sponsoring one of the events.

“The Perth Winter Festival promises to be one of the best in Scotland, and we have worked very hard to provide a tremendous range of events and entertainment. I am sure local people will turn out in their droves to support it, and we will also be able to attract visitors from far and wide to the city.”