Santa is coming to town as Albrighton gets ready to hold its Christmas Extravaganza

More than 20 local traders and the parish council have joined forces to host the Albrighton Christmas Extravaganza on Saturday, with the official festive lights switch-on set to take place outside the Red House at 6pm.

Thousands of people are expected to descend on High Street and Station Road and will be greeted with a snow machine, gluhwein, roast chestnuts, giant paella, authentic Italian cuisine from Al Sorriso and lots of sweet treats from the LoadaWaffle dessert pod.

Santa will also take a few hours away from making toys in the North Pole to visit the village, with children able to meet him in his special grotto held at The Crown pub – raising valuable proceeds for nearby Albrighton Trust, Moat & Gardens in the process.

This year’s extravaganza is promising to be the biggest yet and is being organised by a new committee featuring Stephanie French (Albrighton Parish Council and the Old Bush), Amanda Potter (Number 7), Tina Hodgkins (The Crown pub), Sarah Glynn (Petals by Sarah Louise) and Sally Hall, Michelle Smith and Vicky Shepherd (all Next Door Bar).

“As a village we have so much to offer and Christmas gives us the perfect opportunity to pull it all together and add lots of yuletide treats for people to enjoy too,” explained Sally Hall, owner of Next Door Bar.

“It has traditionally been held on a Thursday night, but we felt we would attract more people if we moved it to Saturday and the initial feedback has been very positive. We’re hoping for our biggest turnout yet, both from local villagers and people visiting us from nearby towns and cities.”

She added: “Many shops will be open late and putting on special offers for one night only, in order to get everyone into the festive spirit and to encourage people to consider swapping the online high street to ‘shop local’.”

Festivities kick-off from 5pm on November 26 and highlights include anything from Christmas decorations and wreaths from Cartwrights and Bucks Fizz and mince pies at The Eye Clinic to exclusive offers at The Tanning Lounge and a hog roast and Christmas Disco at The Old Bush.

The village’s cafes will be serving Christmas inspired snacks and hot drinks, whilst local music legend Richard Evans will be playing his usual eclectic choice of tunes with a few yuletide hits thrown in.

Amanda Potter, owner of Number 7, said: “In order to really ramp up the excitement for the Extravaganza, we have got two competitions that families and individuals can get involved in.

“The first is a Christmas picture trail where you have to find different symbols in the local shop windows and then, for those who have a bit of a naughty side, we’ve got ‘Where’s Elf’.

“Your task here is to collect a form and try to find which shops he’s hiding in.”

For further information, visit Albrighton’s Christmas Extravaganza page on Facebook.