Launch event held to promote first Brighton Christmas Festival

A launch event has taken place to promote the first Brighton Christmas Festival which starts towards the end of this month.

David Hill, the founder of festival organiser E3 Events, said that it was vital to celebrate Brighton and Hove and show the wider world what the city was about.

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Mr Hill, whose company is based in Palmeira Square, Hove, said that it was also crucial to involve the community in the five-week festival in the heart of Brighton.

At the launch event at the Royal Pavilion, Mr Hill told the 100-plus guests: “It is really important that we encourage people to visit Brighton and Hove this winter.

“This is a city-wide experience aimed at boosting the local economy and I have every confidence that we will achieve this.

“We want people from away to experience our city and the vast attractions that we have to offer as well as involving the local community.

“The Brighton Christmas Festival has to be a city-wide experience.”

The festival is due to start on Friday 26 November and run until Friday 31 December in the Old Steine and Victoria Gardens area – by the ice rink in the grounds of the Royal Pavilion.

Mr Hill said that the main attractions included

A traditional Christmas village and market
The first Christmas panto at the Brighton Centre – Aladdin, starring EastEnders legend Anita Dobson
A 50-metre observation wheel in Old Steine
Santa’s grotto for the children
A big-top theatre with live shows

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Mr Hill said that community was at the heart of the Christmas festival and that there would be something for everyone – young, old and families with children.

His company, E3 Events, is running the festival under a three-year contract awarded by Brighton and Hove City Council.

The Christmas fayre and fairground will be in Old Steine alongside Britain’s “tallest observation wheel”.

The Christmas market will be in Lower Victoria Gardens, with a variety of stalls, many of which are being run by local traders.

And as well as a magical Santa’s grotto in the Christmas village, there will also be a pop-up crazy golf course.

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The organisers have planned a “Community Celebration Square” with a “Community Festival Stage” and a promise of heated benches to enable those watching performances to be more comfortable.

Aladdin star Anita Dobson has been booked to switch on the lights for the opening night.

But, on each evening during the festival, unsung community heroes will be invited to switch on the lights again.

An “Apres Ski Zone” is planned for the area closer to St Peter’s Church with a “big top” staging a variety of shows.