Perth & Kinross Council are standing by their grounding which their decisions was to have Mark Wright to turn on the Christmas lights in Perth.
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Furious locals were mortified to find a £5,000 fee will be paid to Mark for his attendance, which has left rows and questions to be answered. PKC haven’t confirmed the fee but its believed Mark Wrights management are claiming publicly that the fee is £5,000 plus VAT.
Spokesman from Perth & Kinross Council said:
“The council has no plans to change arrangements for the Christmas lights switch-on,” he said. “Last year’s Christmas lights switch-on, which featured the Red Hot Chilli Pipers, attracted a crowd of 10,000 to Perth city centre.
“We are ambitious for Perth and want to build on that success. We are confident that this year’s line-up will attract even more people to Perth.
“This year we are also bringing in a second stage to ensure that we can showcase local talent and community groups. This will be located outside the City Hall.”
Alerted by the rumours and rows, the spokesman said “we have no plans to change the line up for this years event”
“We are sure that this will see the biggest and best ever Christmas lights switch-on Perth has ever seen.”
The spokesman said the event will provide “a major boost” for local retailers and business, and the local economy as a whole.
“The amount of money spent by the council on the festival will be far outweighed by the amount of money generated in the city by visitors,” he added.
“It will also ensure that people enjoy what Perth has to offer and pay return visits in future.
“The Winter Festival is in line with the council’s agreed strategy of developing Perth as a year-round events destination that will drive tourism to the city and to Perth and Kinross area as a whole.
“A number of local hoteliers are reporting that they are already fully booked for the Christmas lights switch-on weekend.
“Perth is now a city, and has to act like one. We would urge everyone to get behind this event and support the City of Perth.”
