Published March 22nd, 2017
An evening of celebration was held in Padstow on Monday to thank the dedicated team of volunteers who help to make the town’s annual award-winning Christmas Festival such a success.
Padstow Christmas Festival is a four-day event which last year attracted more than 50,000 people to the town.
Now in its tenth year, the festival has become one of the most popular of its kind in the country.
Boasting more than 100 stalls selling locally produced food, drink and artisan crafts, it also featured cooking demonstrations by some of the country’s top chefs, including Tom Kerridge, Nathan Outlaw, Paul Ainsworth and Rick Stein.
Organiser Tina Evans, Chairman of the Padstow Area Tourism & Business Forum, attributes the smooth running of the event to her 50-strong troop of volunteers who help with everything from selling merchandise to manning the entrances and exits.
She said: “Having the volunteers is critical to everything we do. We couldn’t afford to run the festival without them.
“They do a terrific job for us every year and this is our chance to say a huge thank you to each of them.”
The party, at Padstow’s Old Ship Hotel, was also an opportunity to distribute to local charities more than £2,000 raised during the year by the Friends of Padstow Christmas Festival.
Tina Evans added: “We run lots of events including a ladies’ day, golf day, and three big raffles. We really wanted to give something back to the local community which supports us so well, so we divided up the cash between a number of local charities.”
Beneficiaries included the town’s Tourist Information Centre which has been given £13,000 by PATA during the last ten years. A total of £8,000 has been donated to Padstow Christmas lights, and the Rotary Club raised more than £10,000 for local charities during the festival.
This year’s Christmas Festival runs from Thursday 7 to Sunday 10 December 2017.
The charities benefiting from donations are:
Padstow under 9’s football club
Padstow Rainbows
Padstow School
Padstow Pre-School
Trevisker Pre School
St. Eval Trevisker School
Community Gardening Project, St. Merryn
Padstow Memorial Hall
Padstow Sea Cadets
FLEET
St. Merryn Pre School & St. Merryn School
Padstow Enterprise Youth
Kernow Players
Padstow Baby & Toddler Group
Padstow Museum
Wadebridge Camels Rugby, minis and juniors
