LIVE MUSIC – PARADE – HISTORICAL REENACTMENTS – MARKET STALLS – DRESSING UP / COSTUME SHOW – TASTER SESSIONS – MEMORIES & DREAMS – STORY TELLING – OPEN DOORS – PONY RIDES & MUCH MORE…

Celebrate Kirriemuir Acknowledgements

What a good day we had on May 30^th .. the weather held, it was dry and not too hot  with just a few spots of rain just before the Parade at 3pm. The forecast heavier rain  didn’t come until after 5pm when we had finished clearing all the outdoor equipment. How lucky we were! 

It was wonderful to see so many folk out and about and moving around the different  activities on the programme. We have heard of some truly amazing numbers of  visitors ..over 800 into the Town Hall Market during the day. The Police Museum had a record 151 visitors and J M Barries Birthplace had 230. Thank you to the amazing  staff who coped with such unexpectedly high footfall. 

We were delighted to hear that the Camera Obscura Cafe was busy too, and the two  churches who had Open Doors, St Anthony’s and St Mary’s, had over 40 and 30  visitors respectively. 

Pathhead ponies delivered 49 rides, Sustainable Kirriemuir Community Garden  reported an increase in footfall compared to last year, plus a well supported Repair  Cafe and Southmuir Primary School Fayre raised over £1600 for school funds. 

Thank you to everyone who came along and enjoyed the day out. We hope you had  fun and maybe discovered some things about Kirriemuir, or found places to visit that  you had not known before? We would love to hear what you enjoyed most and if you  would like to do it all again in the future? 

We have already acknowledged the businesses who generously donated early on to  enable us to pay for insurances, public entertainment licences and all the legal stuff,  and to book venues. 

We now have a huge list of credits to mention – absolutely everyone who gave freely  of their time and skills and goodwill to make this happen. We almost can’t believe  what we achieved in the 10 weeks from the core team deciding there was enough  interest for this event to go ahead, up until the actual day. 

We cannot thank the following folk enough for showing us what an outstanding  Community Spirit still exists in Kirriemuir and that fills us with hope for the future of this grand wee town. We could not have achieved this without every single one of  you. 

So a massive thank you to: 

Knights of Monymusk for entertaining on the Hill 

Kirrie Thistle Social Club for hosting the Bingo Fund raising,  

EEJAY for logo, designing social media, and printed material and  building the website, 

Braes for refreshments for volunteers on the day,  

Wilkies for use of staff Car park, 

Pathhead Farm for overspill Car Parking, 

Ally Bruce for roadside banners 

 Grewars for road signs cones and sandbags,  

Rotary club of the Angus Glen’s for parade road management and litter pickers,  Rhonda Mcfarlane for advice and sourcing display boards, Angus Council  department’s staff for patiently facilitating the paperwork trail, Gus Robb for  invaluable advice and Kirriemuir Regeneration Group also for advice. Liz Reid and the Old Parish Church for being so helpful and accommodating all our  needs. 

Gordon and Bruce ..Town Hall caretakers for helping us set up and dismantle the  market. 

All the stall holders who came on board for the day. 

George Forrest driving his famous truck in the Parade,  

National Trust Scotland for lending the big gazebo for the Square,  DD8 for lending sound equipment and the skills of David, Ian and Bex to set it up,  Scott Crawford electrical services for ensuring the power supply was safe and  accessible,  

The live bands in the Square – Woodland Elves, Sonnet 65, Dice Roll Rebels,  Trainwrecks -plus the folk band Willies Crew who played in both the halls. Marshall Cochrane the talented young piper who played before and after the Parade, Paul Fretwell and Judith Brennan for maps, Kirriemuir Heritage Trust for archive  material and particularly Bob Smith, David Orr, Michael Visocchi and Sandra Affleck for their contributions to setting up the Old Parish Hall display,  

Southmuir Primary P7 for letting us display their project. 

Iain Henderson for consent to use his online collection of photographs. Sandra Affleck for her talk to an audience of 50 folk in the Sanctuary. Ann Soutar, Sheila Ironside and Margaret Small for helping deliver leaflets,  Volunteer marshalls on the day, Mike & Norma Laird & Vic Johnston,  Stu Greenwood for emergency / first aid back up, 

Kirriemuir Development Trust for banking facilities and overall support. Everyone who supported, encouraged, shared social media posts and helped spread  the word. 

The folk who dressed up and took part in the Parade. 

And last but not least all of us in the core team led by Catherine Marriott who  organised and co-ordinated us all and kept us on track,  

 Naomi Newton, Heather Kelly, Tina Williamson, Gail Lauder, Shaun Morris, Eve  Morris, Linda Baynes, Veronica Hubbard, Ally Bruce & Lindsey Wilson.

Acknowledgements

Celebrate Kirriemuir could not have happened without the generosity of local people and their companies. We would particularly like to thank the following for their donations and fundraising, as well as those who have offered their time and support in the organisation of the event.

Donations and fundraising has helped us towards covering the cost of venue hire, and all the necessary permissions, licenses, insurance and printing costs incurred during the creation of this not for profit event.

Guild Homes (Tayside) Ltd – Gordon Dobbie Heating & Plumbing Ltd – Autosales Kirriemuir – Pathhead Farm – Three Bellies Brae – Elevate & Sustain – A Longer Table CIC – Rotary Club of the Angus Glens – Kirriemuir Development Trust

Celebrate Kirriemuir © 2026