Sion Corn tries a husky team to reach festival

* Natalie Hallmark Jones, right, and daughter 

Holly help Sion Corn try out the team of Siberian Huskies.

Sion Corn – the Welsh Santa Claus – has been checking out the quickest way to reach Llangollen when the town stages its annual Christmas Festival on 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.

And he reckons he had the most fun so far when he put a pack of Siberian Huskies to the test.

The magnificent dogs are part of the Wrexham-based Wolf Pack which races regularly across the UK and will be making a special guest appearance alongside him in the big parade on festival day.

Wolf Pack owns 11 huskies, nine of which are Siberian, one an Alaskan and another a Northern Inute Kelip. 

All the huskies are looked after by Rob and Natalie Hallmark Jones and their daughter Holly who helped Sion Corn get the feel of the reins as he settled in behind the team during his practice session.

Later he said: “That was very exciting and you wouldn’t believe how fast these fantastic dogs can travel. I should be able to make it from Lapland to Llangollen in no time on festival day.”  

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, 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.