Colourful Christmas Festival lights up the town

* The lights in Castle Street right after the switch-on.

Thousands of people flocked to Llangollen's annual Christmas Festival this afternoon (Saturday) and llanblogger  was on hand to record some of the colourful scenes.

* Sion Corn waves to the crowds waiting in Castle Street.

* Chris Burton, dressed as Rudolf, belts out some 60s and 70s sounds in Centenary Square.

* People look for bargains at the Christmas fair inside the Town Hall.

* Market Street was turned into a foodies paradise with the Light Up Local Food stalls.

* The children's fairground ride swings into action in Market Street. 

* The parade heads into town led by a horse-drawn wagon.

* Town crier Chem announces the arrival of the big parade. 

* Llangollen Silver Band sets the pace for the parade.

* A vintage tractor represents the local farming community.

* Bikers in fancy dress were a major attraction.

* A stylish custom pick-up drew lots of attention.

* Town mayor, Cllr Jon Haddy, arrives outside the Town Hall.

* Juggler Jay Gatling goes through his paces in the parade.

* A biker in steampubnk style roars in.

* Huskies were a top attraction with the crowd.

* An elf makes a collection for the festival's charities.

* The Silver Band plays a selection of seasonal tunes in Centenary Square.

* Shea Ferron, one of the stars of the Llangollen Operatic Young 'Uns' next production of Grease, takes the stage. 

* A chorus line from Grease performs.

* Cast member Celyn Orton Jones sings another number from Grease.

* Children from Ysgol Bryn Collen delight the Centenary Square crowd.

* A young visitor meets Sion Corn in his Town Hall grotto.

* Two festival volunteers take a break.

* Chef Brian Mellor gives a cookery demonstration.

* High jinks from juggler Jay Gatling.

* The cast of Llangollen Pantomime Group next production of Aladdin perform a selection from the show.

* Elvis Presley makes an appearance with some friends on the Centenary Square stage. 

* Llangollen resident Ann Owen, who has raised money for the town's Christmas lights in the past, switches on the illuminations with Cllr Karen Edwards who raised cash for them this year.

* A firework display rounds off the festival.

Christmas Festival is this afternoon

Thousands of seasonal revellers are expected to come flocking to Llangollen today for the town’s annual Christmas Festival.

Kicking off at 1pm with the famous parade which sees Sion Corn - the Welsh Santa – being escorted into town over its 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 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 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 donated to Wales Air Ambulance and local community groups.

Over the last couple of years the police have estimated that the spectacular event attracts 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.” 

Try Llan Country Market for a Christmas bargain

* Country Market members Vicky Lucas, left, and Marion Williams at a stall loaded with Christmas goodies. 

Llangollen Country Market members have been celebrating the lead-up to Christmas in their usual manner.

They have been very busy creating seasonal goodies for all.

The members invite people to come in out of the cold, have a drink and stock up on the unique hand-made gifts, cards, wreaths, jams and chutneys and tasty cakes and pastries.

The market is open on Friday mornings, from 9.45am-12.45pm, in the Town Hall until Friday December 14 when it closes until Friday March 1 for its annual break.

Members say: "We wish a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all our customers. Nadolig Llawen a Blwyddyn Newydd Dda."

Play is a great way to start Christmas with a laugh

* The cast of The Flint Street Nativity.

Kids say the darndest things.

And a lot of the things they come out with accurately reflect what their parents say and do.

That's the main premise of the play The Flint Street Nativity currently being staged by the Twenty Club at Llangollen Town Hall.

And an unholy piece of hilarity it turns into.

The plot is that grown-ups play a bunch of kids at Flint Street primary school - located somewhere near Llan in this instance but actually in Liverpool as originally imaged by author Tim Firth - as they perform their annual nativity.

We see them first at rehearsal where we hear them inserting into their own childish conversations the phrases they’ve picked up at home from listening to their sometimes dysfunctional parents.

Quite a bit of this stuff  is malicious but is used innocently by the children as weapons in their own little feuds with other members of the group.

This produces some delicious comedy such as when the Angel Gabriel, marvellously played by Twenty Club favourite Sue Griffiths, wills Hannah Edwards’s superb Virgin Mary to fall sick so that at the last minute she can take over that role herself.

There’s much more of this stuff and the laugh factor steps up significantly when the actual nativity performance gets underway.

Another memorable scenario stems from Mary and Joseph’s weary arrival at the inn to be greeted by Si Kneale deftly portraying a far-from-genial mine host. I won’t divulge what happens but don’t forget to look out for it.   

Another stand-out performance comes from Nicola Holmwood as the Shepherd. She’s extremely believable as a little girl, right down to the perfectly-timed twitches, and delivers some real comedic gems.

James Broderick is sheer magic to watch and listen to as the Ass, so called because he spends most of the action wearing a big cardboard donkey head. However, that doesn’t prevent him perfectly delivering some of the play’s funniest moments.

Other neat performances come from Lizzie Clifford as Wise Gold – one of the Three Kings – Kevin Williams who gives a new twist to the Star of Bethlehem, Eiri Jones as The Angel, Joe Clifford as the Narrator, Gareth Edwards as Herod and Joseph and Rowena Owen as Wise Frankincense – just listen to how she delivers her character’s name with the lisp she puts on.  

Why the various kids say the things they do become clearer when the actors appear as their respective parents in the final scene.

The play, which you can still catch this and tomorrow evening (Friday and Saturday, when it helps round off the town’s Christmas Festival) at 7.30pm, is a credit to John Clifford in his first directorial role and is a cracker of a way to start Christmas.

* Tickets, at £8 and £6 concessions, are available from Courtyard Books, Gwyn Davies butchers, Jenni's or Mair Bowen on 01978 822759, or via Skiddle.com

Christmas Festival entertainments programme unveiled

Here's the action-packed entertainments programme for this Saturday's Llangollen Christmas Festival:

Centenary Square Entertainment

Compere: Chris Burton

12.50-1.30: Chris Burton, acoustic 60s and 70s

1.30-2.00: Llangollen Silver Band

2.00-2.20: Young ‘Uns

2.25-2.50: Ysgol Bryn Collen


2.55-3.20: Ysgol Y Gwernant

3.25-3.45: Pantomime Group

3.50-4.05: Cylch Meithrin

4.05-4.45: Chris Burton and Friends

5.00: Announcements about switch-on of lights and firework display

Market Street Stage

Compere: Barrie Roberts

1.15-1.45: Madalene Kirby

2.00-2.20: Jay Gatling magician

2.30-3.00: Chef Brian Mellor cookery demonstration

3.05-3.35: Melodics Choir

3.40-4.00: Creak n Twist balloon modelling

4.00-4.30: Chef Brian Mellor cookery demonstration

Old Sweet Shop

1.30-2.00: Fiona Collins storyteller

2.05-2.25: Creak n Twist balloon modelling

2.30-3.00: Fiona Collins storyteller

3.05-3.25: Jay Gatling magician

3.30-4.00: Fiona Collins storyteller

Tourist Information Centre steps

1.45-2.10: Harley the Clown

3.15-3.40: Harley the Clown

Also in various locations around the town centre

Jay Gatling magician, Harley the Clown, Fiona Collins storyteller, Creak n Twist balloon modelling 

County backs Road Safety Week

Denbighshire County Council is lending its support to the national Road Safety Week awareness events, encouraging cyclists to be as safe as possible on our roads.

The theme for this year is BikeSMART and the week-long campaign is focussing on cyclists and motorcyclists being Bike Smart through safe riding behaviours, appropriate training, clothing and equipment. 

Drivers are also encouraged to be aware of the potential of cyclists being on the roads and using the latest life-saving technologies in their vehicles.

In Denbighshire, the council’s road safety team is rolling out a programme of Bikeability training to all primary schools, with the focus on Ysgol y Llys, Prestatyn during Road Safety Week. Rhyl High School students have recently undertake their Level 3 Bikeability course.

The Council is also supporting the enrolment of young drivers on the Pass Plus Cymru programme. Full details are available on www.dragondriver.com

Many primary schools are taking delivery of "Arafwch yn ein Tref / Slow down in our Town" banners in an effort to keep roads around schools safe.

Councillor Brian Jones, Cabinet Lead Member for Highways, Planning and Sustainable Travel said: “Designated weeks such as Road Safety Week are a great way to raise national awareness of important issues and we are delighted to be supporting this worthwhile campaign in Denbighshire.

“National statistics show that cyclists and motorcyclists account for more than a third of people killed or seriously injured across the UK and more than 100 bike riders are injured every day in crashes.  That is why the education element of this campaign is vitally important and we will do all we can, in partnership with schools, to drive home this vital message."

Old Vicarage care home is under new management

* Richard and Bethan Mascarenhas with Barclays business manager Philip Cawley. 

Siblings Bethan and Richard Mascarenhas acquired The Old Vicarage Care Home in Llangollen.

The investment will allow the retention of local jobs and peace of mind for the existing residents and their families.

The continuity of the service from one local family to the other has been warmly welcomed by former owners David and Joan Morris.

Richard and Bethan attended Ysgol Dinas Bran and universities in London and have both returned to an active family and community life in Llangollen.

It is their wish to stay involved in the industry and they are both committed to being involved in the positive movements for nursing and social care on a national level, and are representatives of the Care Forum Wales.

Bethan said: “Richard and I were raised in the care sector and have a deep-rooted understanding of the individual needs of residents and a well-established link to the local community.

"Demand for quality care is rising across the region and there are pressures across the sector for future placements, so our joint investment is vital to help meet the region’s projected care needs.

"By really understanding the care sector, Barclays has been able to provide debt finance to support the business. Bethan and Richard have a real passion for quality care and have spent their lives growing up and working alongside their parents in their family run care home at Abbey Dingle since 1988.

“We operate as an extended family, providing dedicated residential care to the very highest standards. With 17 beds we are big enough to make a difference but small enough to deliver individual tailored care.

"Most people when asked don’t wish to live in a residential home but when someone chooses to stay with us, we consider that to be a personal accolade and an opportunity for us to do everything to make that stay as happy and enjoyable as possible, with a dedicated and supportive care that specifically meets individual needs.

"The best thing about running your own small care home is the empowerment  to make timely local decisions to improve services for our residents. Satisfaction from happy residents and family members makes all our efforts worthwhile."

She added: "I have real concerns over the UK’s social care strategy and the pressures on the acute sectors of the NHS. Care homes nationally are increasingly under pressure to meet changing regulations and care standards, which is why all sectors must embrace these challenges, investing and improving the standards of care.”

Barclays bank helped arrange the deal and business manager Philip Cawley said: “Barclays is committed to using our industry expertise within the healthcare sector to support such community investments, which are vital to a prosperous economy." 

A special tree planting in the walled garden at the Old Vicarage will be held to pay tribute to Adrian Roberts of Barclays, a popular and well known local bank manager, who passed away before the acquisition went through, and was succeeded by Philip Cawley who stepped in and saw the deal through to completion.