A highly popular lighting show which drew thousands of families to Perth city centre earlier this year could become a regular fixture, it has emerged.
Council bosses are considering kitting out Norie-Miller Walk with permanent infrastructure to host occasional lighting extravaganzas at any time of year.
More than 50,000 people visited the River Tay trial when it was lit up for 18 nights in January.
Now the local authority hope to repeat its success, and tie the event in with its ambitious City of Light plan.
Plans for Norie-Miller Walk were revealed on Thursday to businessmen and women who have shown interest in getting involved in the multi-million-pound project which will see landmark buildings and vennels illuminated with colourful spotlights and projections.
The local authority will pay around £5 million toward the project over the next six years, with extra funding from property owners and the Scottish Government. The total cost of the plan is about £12 million.
Companies were invited to take part in preliminary talks on Thursday to discuss the impending City of Light contract.
About 40 representatives of prospective bidders from across the UK attended a presentation at North Muirton Community Campus to learn more about the operation.
Alan Farnington, who is part of a team leading the project, said the plan could not only revive Perth’s flagging nightlife, it could help improve safety, while potentially reducing crime and vandalism.
He said: “If we get this right, we could see this snowball across Scotland.
“Other places will look at what we’re doing and put together their own, similar plan.
“We’ve recently seen that Aberdeen come up with its own lighting strategy.”
Mr Farnington said the Norie-Miller trail successfully brought crowds into the city centre.
He said once permanent infrastructure was in place, different light shows could be held at different times of the year.
“We wouldn’t want the same lights to be on all year round,” he said.
“Its important that we keep changing it.”
During this year’s show, organisers arranged special events to mark Burns Night, Chinese New Year and St Valentine’s Day, while crowds were kept entertained by acrobats, stilt walkers and fire shows.
“It far exceeded everyone’s expectations,” Mr Farnington said.
Councillors last year agreed to spend £100,000 to light up the local authority’s High Street headquarters.
Other sites which could be lit up include Queen’s Bridge, the High Street precinct and the Kinnoull Hill tower.
The project is part of a wider regeneration scheme — the Perth City Plan — aimed at making Perth “one of Europe’s great small cities”.
The contract will be up for grabs soon, although no timescale has been set.
