WACKY waiters will give people an ‘Eiffel’ when they race through Kilmacolm balancing trays of drinks to mark the village’s French connection in ‘spectaculaire’ style.

The hilarious race is part of a ‘crème brûlée-ant’ French day which has been organised to welcome 28 young visitors from Kilmacolm’s sister town Mérignies — a small village close to Lille in the north-east of France.

Organisers are pulling out all the stops to say ‘bonjour’ to their French counterparts and celebrate their formal town-twinning agreement, which was signed last year.

Gerry Boyle, chairman of the Kilmacolm-Merignies Twinning Society, hopes everyone will come along and support the event on Saturday 6 June.

He said: “This is the first time that the village has ever done anything like this.

“It’s a day to celebrate what twinning is about — connecting with another culture and celebrating what we have in the community. It is also about having some fun.

“French waiter races are held all over France at different times of the year to promote the jobs they do, so we thought it would be a great idea to have one here on our big day.

“Competitors will have to balance a tray full of drinks whilst negotiating obstacles and the winner is the team with the most amount of liquid left.” The red, white and blue theme will also be embraced by local businesses, with cafes translating their menus into French and offering continental cuisine such as oysters, snails and crepes, while youngsters will be able to take part in a French treasure hunt and a choir will perform in French.

After all the Gallic festivities, the day will end with a reception in the Cargill Centre where there will be canapes and refreshments.

Gerry told the Telegraph that the town-twinning has been more successful than they ever imagined.

He said: “Pupils from St Columba’s visited Mérignies in January and they were given an official reception. We wanted to reciprocate that and do something fun and beneficial for the young French people, for everyone in the village and for visitors.

“The town-twinning has really grown as people said it would take about six years to see the benefits, but in less than a year we have done some really fantastic things.” The day starts at 10am with the French waiters race expected to set off just before noon at Birkmyre Park.

Any teams who would like to take part should telephone 07753 320750.