Five-day Christmas festival planned as venues unite across Barnard Castle

BARNARD Castle’s cultural venues are planning a five-day Christmas festival with proposals for a traditional festive fair as well as a market with up to 100 stalls.

The aim is to create an annual event that will bring tourists flocking to Barnard Castle and help to make the town a Christmas destination.

Managers at The Bowes Museum have been working with other venues in Barnard Castle including The Hub and The Witham. A joint website would be created promoting all events taking place. They are hopeful that other organisations will be able to take advantage of the initiative by promoting their own activity as part of the festival.

The collaborative approach also aims to build on the work done to revamp the town’s Christmas lights which have delighted locals in the past couple of years and to highlight the town’s retail offer, which is being billed as “one of the best in the area”.

The Bowes Museum was allocated £2,000 by Barnard Castle Town Council towards its 125th anniversary and challenged to organise an event which brought visitors to the town.

The council was due to discuss the proposals for the five-day festival as the Mercury went to press.

Richard Welsby, from the museum, said: “It’s hoped the event at the museum would start on Wednesday, December 13, with a traditional fair with family activities, rides, games, food and drink. The market, which could have over 100 stalls, would begin on the Friday night and carry on all weekend.”

He added: “The fair will be inspired by the museum’s founders, John and Josephine Bowes, and will be a Christmas fair visitors might have enjoyed in 1892. We want to create an event that will bring people from outside the area into the town.

“The town’s Christmas lights have massively improved. The Witham has an exciting cultural programme and The Hub is really taking off and the town’s retail offer is great. We thought the time was right to do something at Christmas that would bring people into town and show everyone what we’ve got.”

The Hub and The Witham are also organising events as part of the Barnard Castle Christmas Festival. More details are to be announced later. Organisations interested in becoming involved should send their contact details to info@thebowesmuseum.org.

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