* Sion Corn tries out the Wales Air Ambulance
for his rapid arrival at Llangollen Christmas Festival on Saturday.
Sion Corn – the Welsh Santa Claus –
has been checking out the quickest way to reach Llangollen when the town stages
its annual Christmas Festival this Saturday November 30.
Thousands of seasonal revellers are
expected to come flocking to the Denbighshire tourist spot for the big event.
As Sion Corn will be starring in the
traditional parade and wants to make sure he’s there in good time on the day
he’s been trying out various modes of travel over the past few weeks.
And he reckons that by far the
quickest way of reaching Llangollen from his home in the Far North is aboard
the Wales Air Ambulance helicopter which the festival is once again this year
raising funds to support along with local groups in the town.
So he went along to its base near
Welshpool to check it out.
Later he said: “Apart from its
fantastic range of lifesaving equipment and its dedicated crew, both medical
and pilots, I was very impressed with how fast it can reach its patients.
“If it can be on the scene of an
emergency so rapidly it shouldn’t take long at all for it to whisk me and my
helpers across to Llangollen on the big day.
“My trip aboard the helicopter also
convinced me the Christmas festival couldn’t be supporting a worthier cause.”
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, this Saturday’s
event features children’s fairground rides, food stalls, choirs, craft stalls,
circus acts 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 from 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 third 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 thanks to the good 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.”
Festival organisers have also
arranged for free parking throughout the day at local car parks.
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