Perth's Classic Car weekend was a roaring success with thousands of extra visitors visiting the city centre.
The event, held on Saturday 30 May and Sunday 31 May, generated a strong increase in footfall movements across the city centre, highlighting Perth as a popular and vibrant destination for visitors.
Footfall data* shows that movements on Saturday 30 May increased by 96.2% compared to the previous Saturday and were 62.2% higher than the same day last year, with 66,361 movements recorded overall.
Across the week beginning Monday 25 May 2026, 213,664 footfall movements were recorded, showing an increase of 25.5% on the previous week. The busiest period was around midday on Saturday 30 May, with over 11,000 movements recorded within a single hour.
Additionally, Perth Museum welcomed more than 1,800 people over the weekend, including 1334 visitors on Saturday alone. Perth Art Gallery also saw strong interest, with nearly 700 people visiting across the weekend.
Alongside this, the event also performed strongly online with Perth City and Towns social media content recording 86,233 views on Saturday alone, 166,805 over the previous 7 days and 518,116 over 28 days.
As part of the weekend, Morris Leslie offered car enthusiasts a unique opportunity to explore his private collection of classic vehicles. Visitors could also enjoy a free vintage bus services from Perth Concert Hall to Perth Airport, adding to the overall experience.
Entry to the collection was by donation in support of local charity TASH for Ukraine, a group of volunteers and Ukrainian refugees providing humanitarian aid following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. With attendance up by around 40% this year, more than £5,600 was raised for this worthwhile cause.
Councillor Eric Drysdale, Perth and Kinross Council Leader, said: "It was fantastic to see the city centre so busy across the weekend.
"A lot of planning goes into bringing events like to Perth and we are so pleased that so many people came along. Not only does this create happy memories for visitors and families, it also provides a real boost to our city centre traders.
"It was also heartening to see our local businesses really embrace the event and played a such an important part in its success, and we're very grateful to them for that.
"We're now looking ahead to more celebrations later this month for Perth's Twinning anniversaries, including the European Pipe Band Championships on Saturday 27 June and the City of Perth Salute on Sunday 28 June, which will bring a full weekend of pipes, performances and entertainment, showcasing Perth as a leading destination to visit."
Find out more about upcoming big events and festivals coming to Perth City and Towns.
Information from the footfall data report
- The total number of visitors to Perth City Centre combined for the last 52 weeks is 8,885,833 which is 5.1% up on the previous year.
- The total number of visitors for the year to date is 3,214,083 which is 2.6% up on the previous year.
- The total number of visitors to Perth City Centre combined in week commencing 25 May 2026 was 213,664.
- The busiest day in week commencing 25 May 2026 was Saturday with 66,361 footfall movements.
- The peak hour of the week was midday on Saturday 30 May 2026 with footfall of 11,070.
- Please note that footfall data is measured using counters at key city centre locations. Visitors may pass more than one counter during their visit.
