A contract worth more than £500,000 to deliver the Paisley Halloween Festival over the next two years has been approved by councillors.
The Finance, Resources and Customer Services Policy Board agreed to award the contract, valued at £524,845 excluding VAT, to Cirque Bijou Limited.
The contract covers the parade and town centre animation for the 2026 and 2027 events, with an option to extend into 2028.
During the meeting, councillors raised questions about the cost and the procurement process, after it emerged that while 17 organisations initially expressed interest, only one company submitted a final bid.
Councillor Graeme Clark said: “I was a little surprised to see the amount for this contract. It is over £500,000.
“It is a great event and it brings people from across Renfrewshire into Paisley. It has been exciting in previous years.
“I wonder whether officers could explain why there were 17 people initially interested in the contract, and only one company applied, so it was uncontested.
“It would be helpful if officers could clarify that it is quite a large sum of money. There is not a great deal of detail in the report about how that money is going to be spent.
“I do not know whether officers can do that now or write to us at a later date, but it would be good to get some more information about what that over £500,000 is actually achieving in terms of what is being brought.”
In response, council officers said it is common for a high number of organisations to express initial interest in contracts without submitting a final bid.
Jennifer Bowles said: “With regard to the number of bidders that we had, we often have notes of interest. Usually, that is always quite high compared to the number of bids that we get.
“You will often have people who are, for want of a better phrase, maybe just being a little bit nosy to try to get access to the tender documents and see what is there, so there is always a discrepancy with that.
“With regard to those who did not respond, we did get some feedback from the bidders. We always request that from the non-bidders.
“The reasons included things such as the capacity of the bidders to manage to deliver such a large event, because it is really a very large event that we are holding, as well as the fact that, at a busy time of year, we have a requirement for it to be held on specific dates.
“During Halloween, there are a number of other events going on around that time, as well as a link to the size of the events.
“The particular needs that the events team have in order to deliver such a scale of event lead to a reduction in terms of the number of people who would be able to provide this sort of service. That is the feedback that we received from the bidders at the time.”
Officers also outlined how the contract value is structured and the wider impact of the event.
Sizu Maciver said: “The value of the contract is split over three years. In the first year, the value of the contract is £170,000, in the second year it is £175,000 and in the third year it is £180,000.
“The total amount is reflective of the extension of that contract, which we have never been able to do in previous years. It has been year to year with this event, so it is a huge opportunity for us to be able to contract such a highly skilled specialist supplier to work with us longer term to develop and flesh out some of the impacts that we have seen that this event can have.
“Although it is not detailed in the report, I am happy to provide more information on some of the impacts, particularly around the social impact.
“Last year, for example, we engaged 25 different community groups in pre-parade workshops. We had more than 400 community participants participating in the parade over two nights each night.
“In total, the programme has generated more than 7,000 participation opportunities for the local region, which is really high. Many of those are being offered out to some of the lesser-served communities in the region, whether they are care-experienced young people or those who come from multiple areas of deprivation.
“In addition, the event provides substantial impact in terms of reputational value and economic value for the region, and the media and PR opportunities that it generates for us.
“This is a fantastic opportunity for us to work with this particular supplier, which has been delivering the event for us since 2019 and has incredible experience and really good relationships with the community groups and all the professional artists that it has been working with, local and otherwise.”
Following the responses, Councillor Clark said he was satisfied with the explanation.
He added: “I think that that answers the questions really well and shows the real value of the event. Thank you.”
The Paisley Halloween Festival is one of the area’s largest annual events, attracting visitors from across Renfrewshire and beyond.
The contract is expected to begin on Monday 25th May 2026.