Family Fun and Festive Shopping Day
Penrith Business Improvement District is excited to announce ‘Penrith Sparkle’ taking place on 30th November between 10am and 6pm. Penrith Town Centre will host a Family Fun and Festive Shopping Day. The day will culminate in the Christmas Lights Switch On, when BBC Presenter Stuart Maconie will be pressing the button to light up the town.
Dan Harding, Director at Penrith Bid said: “I’d like to thank all the businesses who have sponsored the event, and the locals who have made donations via the Go Fund Me page. We’re looking forward to having a great start to the Christmas season!”
Penrith Mountain Rescue 4×4 land rover will be pulling Santa’s sleigh (got to give those reindeers a rest so they’re ready for their big journey in December). They will park up in the Market Square so children can meet Santa and let him know what they want for Christmas.
Eden FM will be broadcasting live from the town throughout the day, capturing the local choirs and bands who are performing from the bandstand. Princess Elsa of ‘Frozen’ fame will be in town so you can have a selfie with her, and there will be Giant Games, like Giant Jenga, free to play near the bandstand in the afternoon.
In the morning, local businesses will be unveiling their Christmas Windows and the shops will have offers and promotions in store.
A Treasure Hunt will start at Arragon’s Cycles. Children can follow the Jam Jar Lantern clues for the chance to win a prize, kindly donated by one of our town businesses.
At 3:30pm there will be a Jam Jar Lantern Parade through the town and at 4pm Penrith will welcome BBC presenter Stuart Maconie to switch on the Christmas Lights. As well as his regular radio show, Stuart’s a TV presenter, journalist, columnist and author. He’ll be dashing up from Manchester on the day, but he’s a regular visitor to Penrith and knows the town well. Stuart’s name is familiar to millions from his work in print, on radio and on TV. His bestsellers have included Cider with Roadies, Pies and Prejudice and Adventures on the High Teas, and he currently hosts a show on BBC 6Music with Mark Radcliffe as well as The Freak Zone.
If you would like to make your own Jam Jar lantern, why not drop in at a decorating workshop from 10am to 12 noon on Saturday 16th, 23rd, 30th November. Just take a clean jam jar to the EVAN Gallery on Corney Square and artist Deborah Wainwright will help you design your own festive lantern.
To keep up to date with what’s going on, follow Discover Penrith on social media, or use the hashtag #PenrithSparkle. If you’d like to donate to the lights, go to https://www.gofundme.com/f/bring-a-festive-sparkle-to-penrith
