IRVINE Harbourside’s spectacular Illumination festival kicks off today, Wednesday. November 30

And the four day Maritime Museum event promises to be a fantastic launch to the town’s festive season.

Visitors will be able to explore the magical Harbourside light trail glowing each day between 4pm – 10pm.

Have fun using your mobile or device to change the colours on one of the beautiful lights - Voyage, a flotilla of tiny, origami-like coloured boats.

Watch jaw-dropping aerial acrobats Spinal Chord fly, balance and spin on trapeze, rope and silks in the Scottish Maritime Museum’s Linthouse. (Daily performances.)

Irvine Times:

Join in the fabulous lantern parade led by a giant fish and ‘ship of dreams’, drummers and stilt walkers, which leaves GRO Coffee Shop on Irvine Harbourside at 6pm on Saturday.

Trainees at the Scottish Boatbuilding School at the Maritime Museum turned their nimble fingers to tiny paper boats making hundreds of origami-like vessels for the illumination Light Trail along the Harbourside.

And now they’ve now risen to the challenge of building a giant 30 feet paper boat in homage to George Wyllie’s ‘QM’.

 George Wyllie’s colossal 80 feet ‘QM’ made waves across the world in the late 1980’s.

The museum acquired two of the last remaining artworks from the giant public artwork project earlier this year. 

The QM insignia and tender boat built by Wyllie were at the heart of the museum’s first major art exhibition which ran over the summer - ‘George Wyllie – The Paper Boat’.

Irvine Times:

David Mann, director of the museum, said: “Over the summer, we welcomed a staggering 30 per cent more visitors to the museum proving the enduring appeal of George Wyllie’s witty and provocative Paper Boat. 

“The young trainees have done a terrific job crafting the boat and we look forward to seeing her help light up the Harbourside this week.”

The 30 feet paper boat will be launched on the River Irvine later this week, weather permitting.