PERTH is to host Scotland’s biggest diamond jubilee celebrations to mark the Queen’s accession to the throne, it was revealed yesterday.

Perth and Kinross Council is planning a programme of major events, including one of the largest parades of pipers yet seen in Scotland, as part of a series of celebrations for the jubilee weekend in June.

The council is vying to become Scotland’s seventh city in a national contest in which one town will be granted city status to mark the milestone.

Perth’s city status was lost in 1975 as part of a local government shake-up.

John Hulbert, the provost of Perth and Kinross, said the council was planning a series of events which would be combined on 2 June to provide a “fantastic day out for all the family”.

A council spokesman said: “The invitation to participate in this high-profile, one-off event has been extended to over 400 local, national and overseas pipe bands through the renowned Pipefest network.

“The recruitment campaign has started and includes bands from Germany, Malta, Switzerland, England, France, US, Ireland, the Netherlands, Pakistan and Scotland. The parade contingent will be led by a number of local bands.”

The parade will take in the main streets in the centre of the town and begin and end at the North Inch, where the “big jubilee lunch” will also be staged.

“There will also be local produce available for people to buy.”