Bolton Council’s Countdown to Christmas is in full swing with plenty to keep the whole family enthralled and entertained.
Santa’s Studio will open on Saturday (Dec 18) until Christmas Eve, offering an innovative and COVID secure way to meet Father Christmas.
In a nod to Bolton status as a popular filming destination, children will visit a real TV studio and meet Santa’s helpers as well as being able to chat with Santa himself via a live link to the North Pole.
Each little visitor will get an early Christmas present, and their video chat can be downloaded afterwards to share with family and friends.
An ideal activity for younger visitors, tickets are just £5 per child or £10 for a family of up to three children.
Pre-booking is essential and children must be accompanied by an adult.
All of this year’s Christmas activities have been designed to be COVID secure.
Anyone attending a Christmas event this year is asked to take a rapid home COVID test before visiting the town centre.
From today (Dec 16), visitors can also take a stroll through the traditional Christmas Market that will be open until Sunday (Dec 19).
Almost 60 stalls will be selling arts, crafts and gifts with further stalls selling seasonal food and drink.
This year’s Christmas events are supported by the council’s partners The Bolton Gin Company, Robertson Facilities Management, Bolton Arena, StepPlaces, The Octagon Theatre, The University of Bolton, Bolton School and Bolton’s Community Champions.
Chief Executive of the Octagon, Roddy Gauld comments:
“Bolton has a fantastic line up for Christmas this year and we cannot wait to welcome audiences into the Octagon for our festive show Peter Pan.
“This retelling of J.M. Barrie’s classic story will be the perfect festive treat for ages 5 and over filled with music, mischief and a good splash of magic!
“It is great to see so many fun festive activities happening across the town centre, so why not pop into the Octagon on your way to see Santa or to warm up after a spell on the Christmas markets.
“Bolton has had a tough time over the last 18 months and now it feels exciting to be able to celebrate the festive season together again.”
Suzanne Gilman, Consultant in Public Health, Bolton Council said:
“The Community Champions programme is all about getting important and trusted information to the heart of our communities to ensure everyone who lives, works or studies in Bolton is safe and well.
“A big part of that is supporting wonderful events like Bolton Council’s countdown to Christmas which give us a platform to get the word out about health and wellbeing issues that are important to local people
“We already have more than 200 champions and you can join the team by signing up at bolton.gov.uk/communitychampions.”
Tickets for Santa’s Studio are available from the Christmas Festival website www.boltonchristmasfestival.co.uk.