Bonnybridge welcomes alien Bill as new mascot for community's gala day

Bill is the brand new mascot for the village’s gala, and is a friend for the event’s original mascot Bella. He’s also the creation of seven-year-old Abbie McMahon who drew the blue and orange creature as part of a competition organised by the gala committee.

The local schools were invited to get involved in the competition to design a new mascot for the gala. When the community event was revived back in 2016 a similar competition saw Bella, a green alien, arrive in Bonnybridge – and she’s been seen at events ever since.

However, the committee thought that Bella must be feeling lonely as the only alien in the village, so they encouraged the children to design Bill to keep her company.

Abbie’s winning design was chosen from the many entries, which were so impressive they left the judges with a difficult decision in choosing the winner. And her vision was turned into reality with Bill arriving last month.

A spokesperson for Bonnybridge Gala Day committee said that the competition was all about building positivity and excitement about this year’s gala day, which will take place on Saturday, August 10.

Plans are already well underway for the community event which will see Hamza Riaz take on the role of king for the first time in the gala’s history, alongside queen Sophie Harrison.

And the planning continues as the committee hosts its AGM on Thursday, April 25 in Bonnybridge Community Centre at 7pm. All are welcome to attend.

The committee has also made the difficult decision not to have the fairground in attendance for this year’s event, saying that it “does not fit the committee's vision to make the Gala Day as low cost as possible for our community”.

A spokesperson said: “Due to the 2023 gala not going as planned, this year we wanted to pay back to our community to make 2024 as accessible for all as we can, meaning no barrier for people who may usually miss the gala due to how much it would cost their family. If we are successful in funding, our gala day will be as free as possible with many fun activities, attractions and entertainment available as possible at no cost.

"The community help us fundraise year upon year to host our gala days so we would like to hold a day that gives something back to you all.

"We are very excited about bringing you a few new attractions and making 2024 an amazing family orientated fun filled day.”

As the countdown to the gala continues, the committee are now accepting applications from stallholders for the day. Anyone interested is asked to email [email protected] to request a stall pack.