Knaresborough Christmas Tree Festival launch this weekend
It's back and bigger than ever!
It's hoped the Knaresborough Christmas Tree Festival will be bigger and better than ever before.
This year's event launched this weekend, with 70 trees on display at St John's Church.
The trees are decorated by local businesses and organisations, with links to their work or the theme of this year's event - 'I Saw Three Ships'.
It runs until Thursday 23 December with opening times 12pm-5pm Monday to Friday, 10am-5pm Saturdays and 1.30pm-5pm on Sundays.
Reverend Garry Hinchcliffe, said:
"We just wanted to give something back to the community so I suggested it as a fundraiser and that we might want to do a Christmas Tree Festival. So we started off slowly with just a weekend event and since then it has just grown and grown and grown until it has become one of the major things that people look forward to in Knaresborough."
Anne Littlewood, organiser, said:
"When they come in they can expect quite a spectacular sight. When you buy a programme it will have a list of all the trees and all the organisations and the title of the tree. That's quite interesting because they often take up something to do with their organisation and how they interpret it and they have some really catchy little titles."
Brian Robinson, volunteer, said:
"The lifeblood of any organisation or institute is innovation. We feel that if we can do something different every year, slightly spectacular, then that keeps people on their toes. This year we've gone more than spectacular this year I think; we've gone mega!"
Entries to the festival are free but organisers ask for a small donation which will go towards projects run through St John's Church.
Last year's festival was run as booking-only entry along with a one-way system and this year the organisers will determine how many people can enter the church at one time depending on how busy it is and the Covid infection rate in the area.
A concert is being held on Sunday 12 December at St John's Church which will feature a range of artists including the church choir. It starts at 6pm. Adult's cost £10, concessions £5 and children go free.