THOUSANDS of people are expected to gather in Barrhead town centre for a truly ‘spook-tacular’ event.

Plans have been announced for the second annual Big Barrhead Hallowe’en Parade, which will take place on Saturday, October 27.

The event is being staged by local Business Improvement District (BID) organisation All About Barrhead, following the huge success of last year’s parade.

More than 5,000 people flocked to the town centre for the 2017 version, with around 700 volunteers taking part in the parade, providing a welcome boost for the local economy.

Events took place throughout the day at the Barrhead Foundry and the town’s Tesco store, with 1,000 local children enjoying the chance to carve their own pumpkins, make spooky masks and pay a visit to a creepy-crawly petting zoo.

This year’s event will see the return of the free Hallowe’en Cinema in the Foundry, with screenings of animated shorts The Smurfs: The Legend of Smurfy Hollow and Monsters vs. Aliens: Mutant Pumpkins from Outer Space.

As an added bonus, fire performers from Think Circus will be on hand once again to make sure the parade is an extra-hot spectacle.

Andy Dunlop, BID manager, said: “We were blown away with how much the community got behind the event last year and are confident the 2018 event will be even bigger and better than before.”

Brian MacMillan, of F&M Hairdressing, who is a BID board member, added: “The community groups such as the Scouts, dance groups and local sports teams have been vital to the success of a number of our events and the Hallowe’en Parade gives us a chance to put them centre stage for the day.

“They were fantastic last year and I can’t wait to see what they come up with this time around.”

The parade will leave from Tesco at 5pm, making its way down Cross Arthurlie Street, Carlibar Road and onto Main Street, where it will finish outside the community square at Asda.

This will be followed by the big firework finale at approximately 6.30pm.

Further announcements about the event will be made on the All About Barrhead social media channels nearer the time.