Christmas most definitely arrived last weekend when the eagerly awaited Wilmslow Christmas Festival succeeded in getting everyone in the festive mood.
Despite the freezing temperatures, the four day extravaganza, organised by Wilmslow Business Group (WBG), brought energy and atmosphere to the town.
Wilmslow's first ever Christmas Festival, sponsored by Cooper Williamson and NTF Financial Solutions, included a Continental Market and a magical Santa's Grotto located in the Romany Caravan - which had been transformed by window dressers from Hoopers.
Bank Square was home to a very popular ice-skating rink, which, thanks to generous donations from United Utilities and other Wilmslow businesses, was free for skaters and the crowds gathered on Grove Street on Friday evening to witness last year's X-Factor finalist Lloyd Daniels switch on Wilmslow's Christmas lights. Described by Councillor Fitzgerald as the "best in memory", the evening included a full line up of family entertainment hosted by Imagine FM.
Denise Valente, who spent months planning this event on behalf of WBG, said "The response has been fantastic. The ice-rink worked phenomenally well and Santa's Grotto was so popular we had to replenish Santa's sack of presents twice. The only negative feedback we received was that it didn't last long enough.
"There were things we could have done better but this is the first time we've done this and we have learnt a lot of lessons. Hopefully we will do it again next year and it will be bigger, better and we will be able to involve more local businesses.
"Our aim was to create a real buzz in the town, support local businesses by encouraging people to come to Wilmslow to do their Christmas shopping and thank our customers for their support in shopping locally, which we achieved,"
Simon Carr, Manager at Hoopers and Vice-Chairman of WBG, said "The footfall increase in Wilmslow was significant, in terms of turnover it was incredible" and Steve Morris, Manager at Sainsbury's and Chair of WBG, added "It was fantastic, that much positive stuff has come out of it that you could swim in it."
See our previous article for more information and photos from Friday's light switch and click 'next photo' above to scroll through our collection of photos from the Christmas Festival. Alternatively you can play the slideshow.
