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April 10, 2025
The Happiness Collectors
Audio Story Company (Sarah Miele and Calum Paterson)
10am-1pm (3 x performances of 25mins) | Paisley Town Hall
The world’s supplies of happiness are running low and the HAPPINESS COLLECTORS need your help to top them up.
The Happiness Collectors need YOU! Pop on your headphones and join the Happiness Collectors on a journey of sounds and silliness to learn the best ways to collect happiness – and most important of all, how to pass it on!
Combining The Audio Story Company’s trademark mix of immersive audio, physical theatre and imaginative storytelling, Happiness Collectors is the show that showcases the power of positive thinking, whilst playfully exploring themes of mindfulness and resilience as well as encouraging active participation and stimulating imagination. Happiness Collectors is fun for all the family!
Each audience member experiences the show through a set of wireless headphones, guided by their very own Happiness Collector Instructor, SAM, aka Special Agent M.
Happiness Collectors was originally developed with Tron Theatre.
Recommended for ages 4+
GRIZZLY BEN! Ready – Teddy – Go!
Alan Dapré
11:30-12:30pm | Paisley Central Library
Alan Dapré shares Grizzly Ben, his heart-warming picture book about a boy who becomes a bear! A story with relatable themes of friendship, frustration and family. Filled with lovely read aloud language, Grizzly Ben offers plenty of opportunities for audience participation of the roaring, stomping kind, so get ready for a lively session.
Expect lots of props, wordplay, laughter and fun as Alan shares his hairy, bear-y, not-too-scary story with you. Plus quirky quizzical questions. Can you tell the difference between a teddy bear, a real bear and a cushion? Come along and find out! Perfect for wee grizzly bears & bairns.
Alan Dapré is an experienced children’s author, with 62 published books. His plays have been broadcast on BBC Radio and used in schools. Formerly a TV scriptwriter, whose work was BAFTA nominated, Alan enjoys inventing imaginative stories and poetry while walking his wonderful rescue dog, Max. Alan regularly appears at book festivals, libraries & schools where he delivers lively interactive events to young readers based on his enjoyably funny children’s books.
The Witch and the Snitch
M&K Imaginarium Pop-Up Theatre
2.00-3.00pm | Paisley Town Hall
Join Children’s book author J L Givens for a drama workshop based on her upcoming book ‘The Witch & the Snitch’. J L Givens has taken a mini workshop to schools this year to talk about the Paisley Witch Trials. Focusing on this fascinating piece of Paisley’s history, we talk about the modern day idea of ‘Witch hunts’ now known as cancel culture. The ‘ Witch & the Snitch’ is the tale of Katherine Campbell, an accused witch and her accuser Christian Shaw who snitched on her for ‘stealing’ a glass of milk in the summer of 1696. Later Christian began to have fits and Katherine was found guilty of cursing this 11 year old girl and sentenced to death alongside 6 others.
Prior to the books publication the story has been adapted into a short drama piece to showcase the many ways you may have been accused of witchcraft in the 17th century.
All participants will be invited to join in with the performance as the “crowd” making this an immersive experience for all involved. The Witch & the Snitch will be published on the anniversary of the Witch Trials of 1697 on 10th June this year. Hear the story being read aloud and being performed through silent drama by real actors and the author herself.
This is a crafting experience making posters and placards to play modern day “townsfolk” during modern day Witch trials while actors perform the adaption through physical theatre and music. Age 8+
Story by J L Givens and adapted for drama by Cameron Bennett.
Tillie the Naughty Fairy and her Grandpa’s Teeth
Karen Herbison and Kevin Cantwell
10.00-11.00am | Paisley Central Library
Tillie & Eddie are the naughtiest, stinkiest, very best friends ever!
You can come meet-up, hear their book, help make stories & fun drawings, all about their adventures with a slimy, sticky, smelly swamp, overcoming challenges and story magic!
Joyous workshop & book by Karen Herbison. Fun drawing & book illustrations by Kevin Cantwell.
Suitable for wee people 3 – 8yrs (est.) who’s adults are needed to support participation
The book design supports dyslexic readers, taking-part and story-making!
Experts Radio Lab
Alice May Cooper
2.00-4.00pm | Paisley Town Hall
Kids are experts. Some are experts on jumping, some on dinosaur fossils, some on making mud pies. Whatever it is, our mics are on, the interview chair is ready and we’re about to go live.
Experts Radio Lab and the accompanying Listening Station is a free, drop-in experience, set within our pop-up radio studio at the Paisley Town Hall. Interviews are shared live to an audience of fellow interviewees, their families and anyone who’s curious.
Share your expertise with us, or come along and learn from the masters! You never know what you’ll learn.
My Kind Of Book – Everyone Deserves A Good Story
Ailie Finlay and Kate Leiper
10.00-11.00am | Paisley Town Hall
Join artist Kate Leiper and storyteller, Ailie Finlay from My Kind of Book on a sensory story adventure for Spring. Swish through the grass and squelch through the bogs as we rescue some lambs and spot springtime animals – lots of props to bounce and squeeze and inclusive games to play. Then we’ll get splodgy and splattery with some inclusive art activities. A fun and engaging session for everyone but particularly suitable for children with additional needs and their families and friends. Age Range: 3+
A Dream Plan for Dottie by Lindsay Littleson
Lindsay Littleson
2.30-3.30pm | Paisley Central Library
Join us at Paisley Central Library for a fantastic event with children’s author Lindsay Littleson and local artist Kay Nicolson. Beautifully illustrated by Kay, A Dream Plan For Dottie is the story of a feisty Scottish princess who is having bad dreams. Luckily, Kitty, the scullery maid, has the solution…Dottie needs a dream plan. A Dream Plan for Dottie aims to empower your child to manifest happy dreams for a better night’s sleep.
Join Lindsay and Kay for a fun picture book quiz and a reading of their enchanting story. Then take part in drawing your own magical dream and decorate a crown to take home!
All art and craft supplies will be provided. Aimed at children aged 4-7.
1 2 3 Resilient Mushrooms
Created by lovebug + worm (Florence Logan + Hope Kennedy)
Commissioned by Imaginate and OneRen , Paisley Book Festival. Supported by The Village Storytelling Centre.
10.00am – 4.00pm (drop in – no booking required) | Paisley Town Hall
1, 2, 3 resilient mushrooms! is an homage to the mushroom and a hymn for hope. This performance tells the story of a landscape, treated poorly and almost abandoned, but not just yet, not by the mushrooms. Through ceilidh dancing, physical storytelling and Scottish traditional music, we show the underdog journey of three resilient mushrooms that not only survive but thrive, the only way they can, as a community. This performance, created for children of all ages and for every member of the family, is a dance-inducing celebration of life, an invitation to care for the smaller pockets of the world, and an opportunity to hold hands and be together, because there can never be enough of those. This performance invites light moments of audience participation.
In addition to the set performance times in the Spinning Shed, you may find the mushrooms popping up around the venue, throughout family day. Age: 5-10 year olds (but suitable for all ages and their adults!)
This performance is made by lovebug + worm with fiddle-player and performer Eilidh Inara and costume-maker Kiera Saunders. It was commissioned by OneRen and Imaginate, supported by the Village Storytelling Centre.
Find the story of the mushrooms in the Spinning Shed at 11am, 12pm, 2pm and 4pm.
