An arts festival celebrating the history and heritage of Paisley – as well as its current talent – starts on Friday.
The Tannahill Arts Festival has been put together by pianist Toni James and composer Alan Fleming Baird.
Toni is from Paisley and is back living in the UK after a stint working at San Diego University in America. Alan is based in the town and wrote Tannahill – The Opera, which told the story of poet Robert Tannahill. It was staged in Paisley Abbey back in 2019.
Following that success, the pair decided to team up and create the festival during lockdown.
Toni said: “I had come back to perform, I still lived in San Diego at the time, and Alan and I put our heads together to see what we could do.
“We want to develop it into a really successful organisation. We registered it during lockdown as a charity and we want to hold an annual arts festival in the town.
“We’ve had to put it off a couple of times and it’s slightly pared down from what we’d hoped but we’ve gone for it.”
Toni said although many of the bands draw on poetry and music from Tannahill’s era they want to promote current talent.
“We’re using the name of Paisley’s bard and setting the festival in Paisley,” said Toni. “The heritage aspect is important to us.
“Paisley, like a lot of towns, has suffered from a los of industry, a loss of retail and has gone through a pandemic.
“It’s really affected actors, composers, makers, singers, songwriters. We want to create a platform for people who are up-and-coming.”
Toni highlighted the Luca Manning with Fergus McCreadie concert at Paisley Abbey on Thursday, September 30 as one example of supporting new artists.
“They’ve both won rising stars awards,” she said. “They are two really exciting young artists who get to perform in a beautiful place like the Abbey.”
Toni said they’ve got a strong emphasis on health and safety as well and have picked appropriate venues to ensure good ventilation to allay people’s fears.
They can’t wait to launch the event with the folk, funk, rock, pop and jazz fusion band Reely Jiggered playing at Powerleague on Friday.
“It’s amazing how many people have told me they wish there had been something like this in Paisley,” said Toni.
“A lot of, particularly older people, remember Paisley at its most thriving and successful time.
“People are proud of Paisley and the arts can help to regenerate it.
“There is a lot being spent on the museum and town hall in Paisley and there’s a sense of a bit of a renaissance happening in the arts and culture sector. We’re very keen for the festival to be a part of that.”
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The festival runs from Friday, September 24 till Saturday, October 2. For more information, check the website https://www.tannahillarts.com/
