THE foundations have this month been laid down for what could become Alloa's gala day.

Parents and staff banded together at Redwell to organise the primary school's very own fete earlier on Sunday, June 12.

The event was such a success, with more than 800 people attending, and some have mused that it could become the town's gala or fun day.

There was plenty to do for families with alpaca walks, which proved so popular people were still queuing past official closing, Owl Magic, fun races, inflatables, music, arts and crafts, face painting, beat the goalie, two tombolas with different price ranges and more.

Coming along to support the event were members of Alloa Rugby Club, Active Clacks the fire service with an engine as well as community police, businesses with stalls, Forefront Stage School and JustDance with performances.

P6-7 pupils were also selling their upcycled toys while many teachers gave up a day off to support the initiative.

The parent council's Lindsay Mitchell, who had the vision for the event, told the Advertiser: “We wanted to create a summer celebration for anybody to come along to enjoy just after the past couple of years, it's been really difficult for everybody.”

The idea was to keep it all low cost with free or highly discounted activities, the weather held up and organisers were delighted with the result.

An event of this type has been lacking in the Alloa calendar while many other communities saw gala days return in the past weeks after the pandemic.

Lindsay added: “The feedback that we've had from some people who attended on the day and also from the businesses that came along on the day and either supported us or held stalls – they all said it was absolutely amazing and they want it to be an annual event.

“I think we can say that we've created the start of a new annual tradition, we hope to run this every year and just keep getting bigger and better each year.”

And at a debrief of parent council fundraisers, someone jokingly called it the new Alloa Gala Day.

“There's no [gala] event in Alloa – you've got Tillicoultry Gala, Menstrie, Clackmannan, Grangemouth, Coalsnaughton, but there's nothing in Alloa,” Lindsay continued.

“There used to be years ago; there used to always be an Alloa Fun Day.”

She added: “I thought it was amazing that people thought of it liked that, we did open it up to all citizens, not just the parents of the primary school – it was good to do it that way.”

Lindsay wanted to thank all who supported the event, parents and teachers who volunteered as well as sponsors and providers O'Malley Property, Jump 'n' Joy, Resonate, Khaira's Premier Store, SV24/7 Vending, Laura's Tilly Tearoom, Morrisons and Tesco community champions as well as B&M, Fatboy's Snack Van and more.