Children will be able to take a ride on Santa’s Christmas Post Train heading to Kendal during the festive period.
Passengers will be transported through the town on a journey to Santa’s Post Office, where children will be able to send their Christmas wish list to Santa.
“It will be a great Christmas experience for the children,” said Peter Brendling, the manager of Kendal Business Improvement District (BID), which is bringing the train to Kendal with the Land Train event company.
“It will be an opportunity for families to start celebrating Christmas. It will bring more people into town, where they can visit local cafes and restaurants and buy Christmas presents for loved-ones from local shops.”
The festively-decorated locomotive, pulling two carriages, will start operating on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, November 22 to November 24, and will continue every weekend up to Christmas. If demand is high, it might also run on some weekdays.
The train will start from the car park at the rear of County Hall, make its way along Windermere Road, around the one-way before heading up Stricklandgate, before turning left into Finkle Street and arriving at Santa’s Post Office inside Spinning Jennies.
“It will be a wonderful ride around the town, accompanied by Christmas carols and songs and with the opportunity to spot reindeer in shop windows,” said Russell Warburton, one of the partners of the Land Train Event Company.
“At the post office the children will be met by Santa’s helpers. Santa will call from the North Pole, via a video link, to wish everyone a merry Christmas. There will be Christmas songs and carols playing and other activities but, most importantly, the children will be able to write a Christmas list and post it to Santa at the North Pole.
“Everyone will be given a hot chocolate, people can take photographs of posting their Christmas wish lists and each child will receive a souvenir gift to take home and help them remember their magical day.”
Santa’s Christmas Post Train is designed to tie in with Kendal BID’s Christmas celebration on Sunday, December 1, and will begin operating the day after the switch-on of the town’s Christmas lights on November 21.
Mr Brendling added that the aim of events organised by Kendal BID was to boost local community engagement and increase business and footfall in the town.
The charge to ride the post train is £18.50 for children (including the souvenir gift) and £12.50 for adults.
