Renfrewshire Council

Date: Saturday 5 July 2025

Venue: Paisley town centre

What's On

Sma' Shot Day is Paisley's annual celebration of the historic victory of local weavers in a famous dispute.

Sma' Shot Day is celebrated on the first Saturday of each July, when weaving families would traditionally take their holiday 'doon the watter'.

Events take place around Paisley town centre and includes:

Sma' Shot Parade

12pm to 1pm

Starting at Brodie Park and ending at Abbey Close.

Co-ordinated by Bridgeman Arts in collaboration with community groups, performers and musicians, this year's parade returns to Paisley town centre.

Bringing to life the traditional weaver's celebration in honour of the victory, and telling some exciting, undiscovered stories of weavers' past. 

Burning of the Cork

1.30pm to 1.45pm

Taking place outside Renfrewshire House, Cotton Street.

Preceded by a performance from Tannahill Makar, Shaun Moore.

Followed by a dance performance from young people from local dance group right2dance.

Throughout the day you'll also be able to enjoy:

• stage performances
• street entertainment and steet theatre
• pop-up performances outside Paisley Abbey and at Restoration & Creation, Brown's Lane
• children's entertainment and workshops
• stallholders
• Makers Market at Restoration & Creation, Brown's Lane.

See the full list of times, performances, and what's on at the Sma' Shot Day event page on the Paisley.is website.

Volunteer to help at major events

For each event, we need volunteers to help us out. There are lots of different roles for our events volunteers. 

Volunteering is a great way to get skills and experience in working at major events. It's also a great way of getting out and about, meeting new and like-minded people, and making a valuable contribution to your community.

Send an email to Valerija Tkacenko, our Event Coordinator, at eventsvolunteers@renfrewshire.gov.uk if you'd like to volunteer.