* Sion Corn is hauled into Llangollen Wharf by his team of faithful elves.
Sion Corn has been looking for the fastest way he can reach
Llangollen to star in the town’s famous Christmas Festival this Saturday.
The Denbighshire tourist town is famed for celebrating
various modes of transport like river, road, canal and steam train.
So the grand old man – he’s known as Santa Claus in
English – has been giving them all a try to see which will get him there as
quickly as possible so he can spend more time joining in the fun with the
thousands of seasonal merrymakers who are expected to come flocking in to the
big event on the afternoon of Saturday November 24.
Latest to be given the Sion Corn transport test was a narrow
boat operated from Llangollen Wharf and used more usually to provide visitors
with memorable horse-drawn trips on the stunning Llangollen Canal.
Sion Corn jumped aboard and was hauled along on a test
voyage by his team of three intrepid elves.
After tying up back at the wharf, he pronounced himself
well satisfied with the trim craft.
He said: “It might only travel at a few miles per hour
but coming into town by canal could help me bypass all the traffic on the road
on what’s sure to be a busy day.
“The only problem was that my elves got a bit puffed out
taking the place of the horse which normally pulls the boat – and I’ll have to
bear that in mind because you have to think of elf and safety these days!”
Thousands of seasonal revellers are expected to come
flocking to Llangollen for the Christmas Festival on Saturday.
Kicking off at 1pm with the famous parade which sees Sion
Corn being escorted into town over the historic bridge by a colourful cavalcade
of entertainers and local groups, the event features children’s fairground
rides and games, circus acts, a magician, dancing and face painting.
There will also be a chance for youngsters to visit Sion
Corn in his glorious grotto and put in their early requests for what they’d
like to see him bring them on Christmas morning.
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 second year the festival has teamed up with Light
Up Local Food, a project aimed at promoting Llangollen-based food and drink
producers.
Chairman of the festival committee Austin ‘Chem’ Cheminais,
who is also the local town crier and a member of the town council, said: “With
the help of the community we manage, each year, to raise just about enough to
fund the event and give a little to charity.
“Last year’s festival was particularly successful, in
spite of the weather, and the feedback from those attending was very positive.
“The ‘market’ feel to the event provided by Light UP
Local Food was particularly commented upon and helped to attract visitors from
much further afield.
“Once again we’re expecting a bumper crowd to come along
and help us to give a great early start to Christmas.”
No comments:
Post a Comment