Irvine Community Events is holding a special event in the town on Saturday, November 21, to signal the start of the festive season. The double celebration will include a Christmas market and a fairground, with a light switch-on scheduled for 5.30pm.
Low-cost event to bring people together
Chair Stephen Frew said: “We spoke to Chris Pless, the Irvine Community Council about the possibility of organising an event and they asked us to go it alone and set up a group to run it as there is a lot to focus on. I taught events at West Lothian College for four to five years so I have some experience.”
“The idea is to run a low cost event for the people and to try and bring people together. We were both DJs so have a lot of experience in entertainment.”
Market, fairground and entertainment
The event will involve a Christmas market at the Portal from 11am, with a bouncy castle, Christmas decorations, a choir and a photo booth. From 1pm until 6pm in Bridgegate, there will be a fairground, tribute act, a dancing group, and the Rock Choir, with the light switch-on at 5.30pm.
Irvine and Dreghorn Brass Band will play across the areas.
Funding and community feedback
Stephen added: “We need funding and Irvine Town Board and the National Lottery are both looking to fund us and we have had money from the Corra Foundation. We had money from Corra Foundations and Ashleigh Homes and have written to businesses across the area. We attended the Trades fayre in Irvine and the Marymass Festival to get an idea of what kind of things people are doing.”
Sam added: “There is a lot of work involved in something like this when we are new to this scene and we have made mistakes. We will hopefully learn for next year.”
Irvine Community Events - North Ayrshire are running a survey on their Facebook page asking what people would like to see more of in the town, encouraging people from across the area to take part online.
