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21
Nov
5 things revealed last night about this year's Harrogate Christmas Fayre
The Harrogate Christmas Fayre returns in a fortnight.
The Stray Ferret attended an event last night (November 20) that revealed details about this year’s activities.
John McGivern, strategic events and visitor services manager for North Yorkshire Council, and Bethany Allen, operations manager at Harrogate Business Improvement District, provided details.
Here are some of the key takeaways.
1. Operating times
The Christmas markets will last for a slightly shorter period than last year. Mr McGivern said the shorter duration meant it would “appeal to a wider audience of traders”.
The building phase will begin on November 30 and the market will open on December 5. It will last for 10 days until December 14. The site will be cleared by December 17.
A Little Bird artisan market will take place in Harrogate’s Valley Gardens over the weekends of December 5-6 and December 13-14.
The market will be open from 10am to 7pm Monday to Saturday, and from 11am to 4.30pm on Sundays.
2. Up to 50 traders
The council is again organising the fayre in conjunction with Ashton-under-Lyme markets event firm Market Place.
Most construction work will take place overnight to minimise disturbance to businesses.
Mr McGivern said that the changing nature of high streets meant the market was “a dynamic event” that is tweaked yearly.
Up to 50 stores will be present, with a variety of different traders. Mr McGivern said most of them will be locally based, with some internationally based, too.
The big wheel will not return for this year's Christmas Fayre.
3. Road closures
The main fayre locations will be Cambridge Street, Cambridge Crescent and Market Place.
Road closures will be implemented for safety reasons. Mr McGivern said:
Unfortunately, we live in a world where we’ve got lots of bad people who want to do bad things, and we want to protect the integrity and the footprint of the event as much as we possibly can.
There will be a road closure at the junction of Cambridge Road and James Street, and Cambridge Road will be closed off entirely for safety reasons.
There will be controlled access to the roads around the fayre between 9am and 10am on Mondays to Saturdays, with restrictions set to be lifted after 8pm each day. Vehicles needing access will be denied entry past 10am.
On Sundays, the roads will close at 11am. Mr McGivern said they hope to have them open again by 6pm.
Removable barriers will be used to prevent vehicles driving into the market.
4. Reduced hours for Candy Cane Road Train
The Candy Cane Road Train will return to the Christmas fayre.
Through an arrangement between Visit North Yorkshire and Harrogate BID, it will remain free to ride.
It has different operating hours, however. Last year it ran throughout the week; this year, it will operate from Friday to Sunday on the opening weekend and Thursday to Sunday on the following week.
Mr McGivern said footfall is too quiet from Monday to Wednesday to justify operating it.
It will follow the same route as used previously. It will start in the town centre, outside Jo Malone, and stop at Crescent Gardens and Cheltenham Mount.
5. Elf and safety
Working with Harrogate events and entertainment company Enchantica’s, the fayre will use ‘elves’ to manage crowds and answer questions from people.
Besides 24-hour security commissioned by the council, the food court will have its own security because it will be selling alcohol.
The food court will be open the same hours as the market. Mr McGivern said there was no risk of the bar running beyond the scheduled hours, adding “it was always about trying to keep that family dynamic”.
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