Spalding at Christmas time

The festive spirit will be in full flow in Spalding on Friday and Saturday, December 3 and 4, as the town’s Christmas celebration takes place with stalls, games, rides, attractions and much more on offer.

The Friday festivities will run from 4pm till 8pm, with musical entertainment, a fancy dress competition and street entertainment including Polka Dot Pantomimes and Rhubarb Theatre.

Seasonal stalls will be in the town alongside a festive food court, Santa’s sleigh, vintage fair rides, Christmas crafts and games, balloon modelling, the Rock School Bus and a chance to meet Elsa and Olaf. The evening will conclude with carols by candlelight at 7.30pm and the switching on of the Christmas tree lights.

The fun will continue on Saturday from 10am till 3pm, when Spalding’s market traders will be getting involved, joined by additional craft, gift and food stalls as well as more live music. Street entertainment, fairground games and free arts and crafts activities will also be on offer for families to enjoy.

Visitors will be able to meet Father Christmas on South Holland Rotary’s Sleigh, take photos in Santa’s Photo Cabin, and enjoy performances from a brass band, SADOS, Diamondz Dance Troupe and Polka Dot Pantomines, with Chain Bridge Forge also opening for the day.

Ayscoughfee Hall will also be open and beautifully decorated with some fun festive activities and a vintage carousel ride in the gardens.

Broad Street Methodist Church will also be joining in the festive spirit on both days, with a magical Christmas tree display, delicious hot drinks and card making activities on the Friday, and their Christmas Fair taking place on the Saturday.

Donations for South Holland’s food banks will be taken over the weekend. On Friday there will be a stall in the Sheep Market, and on Saturday a donation point will be open at Ayscoughfee Hall.

Councillor Gary Taylor, portfolio holder for communities and facilities, said: “We’re delighted we can offer this great collection of festive fun and activities for people and families of all ages to get involved in.

“There’s a brilliant variety of things to do, attractions, games, rides and entertainment to explore and help you to get into the festive spirit.

“Also, with our Elf Trail and Shop Local Prize Draw, there will be two opportunities to win some fantastic prizes for doing your Christmas shopping, whilst helping to support our businesses and traders as they continue to recover from the pandemic during this vital time of year for retail.”

For more information on the event, keep an eye out on South Holland District Council’s Communities team on Facebook, SHDC_Communities.

The Communities Team at South Holland District Council are pleased to be bringing a new Christmas Trail to help promote seasonal shopping in Spalding town centre.

The Spalding Elf Trail will launch on Friday, December 3 up until Christmas Eve making it a great festive activity to take part in with the whole family.

There will be 12 cheeky elves hiding in shops across the town centre. These include Occasions Jewellers, Charmed Interiors, Bookmark, Hughes Electrical, Coocumber, Penman Watch and Jewellery, Gibbs of Spalding, Masons Models, Robert Goddard, Element 78, Coneys at Hills and Moninna’s at South Holland Centre.

Booklets can be collected for free from all participating shops, Priory Road Council offices, South Holland Centre or at the Christmas Celebration event.

Once you have entered all 12 of the elves name into the booklet you can post it through one of the special post boxes located at the South Holland Centre and the council offices on Priory Road. You can also enter using the digital online entry form which can be found in the What’s on section on the SHDC website.

Twelve lucky winners will then be chosen at random and will receive a gift voucher prize ranging from £15-£50 to spend in local stores.