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Stirling’s streets have been given extra twinkle and sparkle this winter thanks to an expansion of the city’s festive lighting.
Go Forth Stirling BID has invested more than £25K this year to provide extra winter lights in Murray Place, Friars Street and Barnton Street for the 2024 festive season.
Go Forth’s Board approved spending for the three additional cross streets which have been lit up with bespoke chandeliers.
They add to the new vision for the city’s Christmas lights, first unveiled two years ago, which features chandeliers, crowns and wreaths aimed at capturing Stirling’s heritage.
Go Forth Stirling Project Director Danielle McRorie-Smith said: “We first looked at revamping Stirling’s festive lights, in partnership with Stirling Council, in 2022 when a working group spent time creating innovative, bespoke designs to improve the look of the city centre.
“The vision was to capture the city’s history and heritage and reflect how its main streets looked in years gone by with traditional Christmas lighting.
“Together with the council, we initially focused on key streets, including King Street and Port Street, and are now gradually increasing the motif displays to cover more of the city centre.
“The three new chandeliers – across Murray Place near the Arcade, the start of Barnton Street and the bottom of Friars Street – have already made a significant impact in lighting up an area which is a real gateway to the city.
“This is a significant investment from the BID which will encourage people into the city centre to support local businesses and meet up with family and friends over the festive season and into 2025.”
The spectacular array of lights has created a vibrant new look for Stirlingand will continue to light up the streets until the end of January next year.
The displays feature sparkling chandelier or thistle wreaths across various streets including Port Street, Murray Place and Dumbarton Road while King Street is unique in hosting a display of silver and gold crowns.
The full display also features a canopy of lights at Goosecroft Road, cross-street lighting above Friars Street, Barnton Street and Upper Craigs and trees festooned with lights in areas such as Allan Park, Murray Place, Friars Street and Broad Street.
The Go Forth team worked with Lightways Contractors on the project and commissioned ARRO Lighting and Events to design and create the bespoke installations.
Aaron Andrews, Creative Director of ARRO Lighting, said: “We always embrace the opportunity to design and produce unique one-of-a-kind motifs. The city’s environment, heritage and culture were taken into consideration when designing the new lights and as a result belong to Stirling.”
The festive lights are just one of a range of initiatives launched by the team at Go Forth Stirling to support the city’s business owners.
These include Stirling’s Penguin Trail – a fun challenge for families who can add to their Christmas shopping experience by finding and reuniting a group of penguins who have been lost across Stirling city centre.
`Chilly’s Family Reunion’ tells the story of Chilly the Penguin who, along with members of his colony, has been separated and drifted away on an iceberg.
Families can pick up a map, from Central Library or the Made In Stirling store or download one online at https://goforthstirling.co.uk/save-christmas/, and follow the trail to find all the missing penguins by visiting the 15 shops where a penguin is painted in the window.
A range of city centre businesses are involved in the Penguin Trail which runs until Sunday January 5, 2025.
Go Forth has also produced a handy guide highlighting Christmas gifts to buy from Stirling’s wide range of independent traders which can be found on the Independent Stirling website – www.independentstirling.co.uk/christmasinstirling/
Go Forth Stirling BID was set up in 2017 and currently represents more than 600 local businesses with a key objective of delivering projects and services which improve Stirling’s trading environment to benefit businesses, shoppers and visitors.
For more details visit www.goforthstirling.co.uk
