MERCIA Marina is launching its festive season this week with late night shopping and the switching on of some unique Christmas decorations.
Shops at the Trent & Mersey Canal marina will stay open until 8pm on Wednesday and Thursday, November 16th and 17th, to give visitors a chance to get some early Christmas shopping out of the way.
Giant 'snowballs'
And, with less than six weeks to go until the big day, the marina will also be unveiling some very special Christmas decorations, including several giant 'snowballs' festooned with thousands of lights.
The snowballs were the result of the marina's ambition to become known as a major annual destination for Christmas light displays.
Staff had a vision of what they wanted, but were unable to find anything suitable or high enough in quality to fit the bill—so they designed and built the snowballs themselves.
Nine 'snowballs'
A total of nine giant snowballs have been created, the largest of which is around six feet in diameter, with Robert Neff, General Manager of Mercia Marina, explaining:
"We are delighted with the result. We can guarantee that visitors will not see anything quite like this, so we hope people will come along and see them.
"We want to make Christmas at Mercia Marina more spectacular every year, so that people even come here solely to see our wonderful Christmas lights display.
"With all the additional attractions, such as Santa's grotto, the Christmas Market, restaurant, tea rooms, farm shop, gift and fashion stores, we hope to make the marina one of the region's premier Christmas destinations."
Santa's Floating Grotto
This year's Christmas events and attractions at the marina include a Christmas Market on Sunday, November 27th, and Santa's Floating Grotto, which will be aboard the marina's transformed trip boat, the Mercia Swan. This will be open on the week-ends of the 3rd & 4th, 10th & 11th and 17th & 18th of December. The experience will include a Christmas present and a short trip aboard the grotto with Santa. It will cost £6 per child and £1 for parents and guardians.
The Christmas Market will consist of more than 30 stalls, selling everything from handmade Christmas decorations and wooden toys to mulled wine, festive cakes and specialist ales.
Carols
The seasonal spirit will be bolstered by music from Laura Jane Vintage, who specialises in songs from the 1930s to the1960s, and carols from a choir led by Revd. Sue Starkey, Vicar of nearby St Michael's Church, Willington.
And there will be lots of additional colour throughout the Christmas run-up with the marina's ever-popular annual boat decoration competition, where a prize is awarded to the moorers who manage to come up with the best Christmas light display on their own boats.