Procession, fun day a community event

Press, 9 December 1983, Page 24

Procession, fun day a community event

The Lincoln Village Christmas Festival will be held again this year, following the success of last year’s event, when it was held for the first time. It will take place tomorrow, starting at 10 a.m., when the main street and

Market Place will be closed to usual traffic. By then, the procession will have assembled in the Ellesmere Country Club’s parking area, ready to move off at about 10.15 a.m. The vintage cars, motorcycles and farm machinery,

the traction engine and the floats, will pass along various streets to reach the main one — Gerald Street. — at about 11 a.m. Marching girls will join the procession at the Liffey Place-North Belt corner, and children in fancy dress will be able to take part from the West Belt-Gerald Street intersection. The star of the show, Father Christmas, will travel on a hay cart drawn by Clydesdale horses. When the procession arrives, the local member of Parliament, Ruth Richardson, will officially open the festival from a dais in front of Wrightson’s. There will be a variety of stalls set up by various community groups, such as scouts, guides, playcentre and Plunket. The Army will have a large static display and the Lincoln Volunteer Fire Brigade will present static and working displays. Church and other groups will be putting on entertainments, starting with the Ellesmere Pipe Band, which will play before the proces-

sion arrives. The local Scottich country dancing group, the Baptist Church music group, the combined church choir and the Graham Wild Carol Singers will all perform. The Ellesmere Brass Band and the Sockburn Motogard Midget Marching Team will give a display at 2 p.m. There will be hay rides for children, raffles and chocolate wheels. Lunches and morning and

afternoon teas will be available, and Alianjon Studios, Ltd, will be in attendance to take instamatic photographs of children talking to Santa — cost, ?2.50 each snap. Some of the main street businesses will be open, and the street will remain closed to usual through-traf-fic until after the festival ends, at about 3 p.m. Detour routes will be clearly marked. The Community Centre

Committee organised the first festival last year as a general fun day, and was amazed at the turn-out for it. Another surprise was the enthusiasm of local groups, who regarded it as an opportunitiy to give the public an idea of what they do. This time, there will be at least 30 floats — three times as many as last year, and already people are talking of what they will do for the next festival.