* Sion Corn arrives at an earlier Llan Christmas Festival.
Organisers of this year’s Llangollen
Christmas Festival have put out an urgent call for able-bodied people to help
run the big show.
Thousands of seasonal revellers are
expected to come flocking to Llangollen for the town’s annual Christmas
Festival on Saturday November 30.
Kicking off at 1pm with the famous
parade which sees Sion Corn - the Welsh Santa – being escorted into town over
the historic bridge by a colourful cavalcade of entertainers and local groups,
the event features children’s fairground rides, food stalls, choirs, craft
stalls, circus acts and face painting.
For the past few years there have
been enough volunteers to help with the heavier work of putting up the wide
range of stalls, sideshows and other equipment needed to make the festival a
success.
But as the show grows in popularity more
people are needed this year to lend a hand with this work.
Chairman of the festival committee
Austin ‘Chem’ Cheminais, who is also the local town crier and a member of the
town council, said: “We’ve usually had enough volunteers on hand to help with
the heavier work but as the event gets ever more popular there’s more to do and
we could do with a few extra willing hands.
“Three or four people would be
enough but, due to the nature of the work, they’d need to be physically up to
doing some of the heavier jobs.
“This is a key part of the
behind-the-scenes festival organisation and we’d be delighted to hear from
anyone interested in helping us out. They can contact us through our Facebook
page, which is https://www.facebook.com/Llangollen-Christmas-Festival-311747955653208/
During the festival, which will once
again benefit Wales Air Ambulance and local charities, there will also be a
chance for youngsters to visit Sion Corn in his glorious grotto and during the
afternoon visitors can look forward to an eclectic mix of musical entertainment
from local groups on two outdoor stages and other on-street entertainment.
The fun-packed day rounds off at 5pm
with the ceremonial switching on of Llangollen’s legendary Christmas lights and
a firework extravaganza.
Llangollen Christmas Festival is
organised by a group of dedicated community volunteers. It costs over £4,000 to stage each year and is
self-funding.
The festival aims
to provide a free family-orientated event in the safety of the town centre with
surplus funds being donated to Wales Air Ambulance and local community groups.
Over the last couple of years the
police have estimated that the spectacular event draws over 2,000 people into
town during the course of the afternoon.
For the third year the festival has
teamed up with Light Up Local Food, a project aimed at promoting
Llangollen-based food and drink producers.
Festival organisers have also
arranged for free parking throughout the day at local car parks.
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