Get ready for a very Wellington Christmas

*Event update – please read: The Think Big, Shop Local event originally planned for 12th December has been rescheduled to take place in the Spring, on 5th March (coinciding with Charter Day). Organiser Fay Easton apologises for any disappointment, but the change will allow more local makers and traders – currently busy with a series of festive events – to be involved.*

We’re barely into November, but the mince pies are in the supermarkets and the adverts are on the TV. You have to set out your festive offer early these days. So, Wellington H2A is launching a new Christmas Events Guide now – click here to see it.  We’ve pulled it together fairly quickly and we’re not claiming it’s comprehensive, but it’ll remind people around Telford that Wellington can be a place worth visiting for a bit of Christmas spirit and Christmas shopping. Having designed it ourselves, we’re very grateful to Wellington Town Council for footing the printing costs – which mean 10,000 copies will be making their way around the area in the weeks ahead.

Christmas Guide frontispiece

After several years of compiling and printing a Summer Events Guide, this is our first Christmas effort. We knew that there were two or three special festive markets organised this year, plus all the usual concerts, carol services and other one-off events, and that seemed like enough to warrant a Guide.

We’re particularly keen to spread the word about the markets, as they’ll be bringing a range of visiting food and craft makers into Wellington. And when those events are in the centre of the town – like the Victorian Market on 28th November – the atmosphere and footfall they generate should benefit the shops.

So as Christmas draws nearer, don’t allow yourselves to get tied up in arduous trips to the retail parks or stressful assaults on the supermarket, the festive melodies of Wizard and Slade ringing in your ears. Make time for something a bit more relaxing and a bit more atmospheric – searching out unique gifts at a makers’ market, enjoying a concert in a fine old church, tucking into a hog roast and mulled wine in the Market Square, or learning how to make your own evergreen wreath in a historic house. These are all things you can do in Wellington this year, so get the dates on your calendar.