The grey skies and drizzle certainly didn’t dampen the Christmas spirit in Wimborne Minster. Thousands flocked to the town to enjoy an afternoon of free Christmas events, organised by Wimborne BID and Wimborne Town Council, to celebrate the start of the festive season.
In preparation, over 25,000 LED bulbs and 2000 metres of string and rope lighting were installed to decorate the town along with a huge Christmas tree as the centrepiece in the town square.
The honour of the big Christmas lights switch on was given to local school children, Alice Graham from St John’s First School and Jemima Cripps from Allenbourn Middle School. Both had won first prize in a competition to design posters to promote the town’s Christmas events. Joining the winner was Mayor of Wimborne’s official Scout escort Madeline Morris, also from Allenbourn School. Three-year-old Finley Wasiak joined in on the moment too.
For the first time, there was a Christmas market held in the High Street car park, featuring 20 stalls offering food, drink and Christmas gifts plus live music and live broadcasts from the town’s community radio station, Radio Wimborne. Some shops extended their opening hours for late night shopping and many car-parks offered free parking.
Fiona Harwood, Chair of Wimborne BID, said, “Having the market in the High Street car park allowed us to really transform the space with decorations and lighting to create a great atmosphere. The focus of the BID is to bring more customers to Wimborne, and events like this certainly do that!”
Debbie Foot, manager of Reeves Bakery, which opened in the town just a couple of months ago, said: “We’ve had the most phenomenal day. Being our first Christmas here in the town, we weren’t sure what to expect. We haven’t stopped selling cakes and pies from the moment we opened. Wimborne people are a joy and we’re one hundred percent thrilled to be in this vibrant town.”
Malcolm Angel, owner of two independent businesses in the town – Gullivers Bookshop and Square Records said; “What a town! It’s been an incredible atmosphere all day. This event gets bigger every year and the new market area was a great use of space. Hats off to Wimborne BID and Wimborne Town Council for all the hard work that goes on behind the scenes to make this event the success it is.”
No event in Wimborne is complete without Wimborne Militia. The town’s 17th century reenactment group fired a finale volley of muskets on Wimborne Minster green, an age-old custom to ward off evil winter spirits.
Festivities continue in the town right up until Christmas. The town’s annual Save the Children parade with floats and a funfair takes place on Saturday 14th December and on Friday 20th December, people can enjoy Carols in the Cornmarket – a chance to sing along to much-loved Christmas carols in the ancient setting of Wimborne’s Cornmarket.