Oban Winter Festival gets underway on Friday with a ballet performance, whisky-tasting and a fashion show.
The 10-day celebration of the town’s culture and community includes street parades, international and local performance acts, fire artists, crafts, pipers, parades and family fun.
There are various literary, language, cinema, music and theatrical events throughout the festival, and well as shopping, crafts, bars and restaurants participating.
On Saturday, there will be a fairground at Corran Halls car park. Santa and his reindeer will lead the Reindeer Parade at 5pm from the Corran Halls to Station Square, where the Christmas lights will be switched on at 6pm.
A host of performances, workshops, demonstrations and Christmas markets will run throughout the week.
Next weekend will see St Andrew’s Day’s celebrations including a “Tartan Dash” run and a Haggis Hurling competition on Saturday.
The final Sunday of the festival will see butchers going head to head to perfect the best haggis.
The final parade leaves the Corran Halls at 5pm that day before people gather at Stafford Street to see a surprise sculpture. There will be a pyrotechnics and fireworks display from McCaigs Tower at 6.45pm.
Argyll and Bute Council is making parking at its pay and display car parks free during the festival.
Councillor Ellen Morton said: “The council is focussed on working with the community and growing the local economy, and supporting events like the Oban Winter Festival with free off-street parking is just one of the ways we help local people.
“Winter festivals in our key towns are big draws and we are happy to help where we can. Obviously to keep our roads and car parks in good condition we have to charge for parking – that is a reality – but we are happy to waive those charges to support local events.
“We were also happy to approve a £300,000 allocation at our budget meeting in February to maintain festive lighting for this and the next two years, ensuring our towns remain lit up at Christmas time.”
