A look ahead to Whalley’s Pickwick Festival

Whalley’s Pickwick Festival returns this year, packed full of entertainment, food and of course a visit from Santa

It takes a year to organise and it’s all over in an evening but anyone who has ever been to Whalley’s Pickwick Festival will agree that it is well worth the effort.

The street party started in 1988 as a way of generating late-night business for retailers in the village but it has grown into a major event which draws people from well beyond the Ribble Valley.

With the locals dressed in Dickensian outfits, visitors can expect music, more than 40 stalls selling food, drink, gifts, cards and Christmas fare. Father Christmas will also be there with his sleigh and reindeer.

‘It is now a key event on the local calendar,’ said Neil Martin, chairman of the Whalley Pickwick Committee. Neil, who joined the committee in 2002 before becoming chairman in 2005, has been keen to take the festival back to its Dickensian roots and make it less commercial.

‘It’s a very enjoyable to be part of an event where we can raise money for charities and the local community as well as having a great time.’ Over £6,000 was raised last year and the team are hoping to beat that.

Taking place on King Street between 6pm and 9pm on December 3, this year’s festival will be opened by Whalley-born Preston North End footballer, Joe Garner, and local fundraiser Naomi Eastham, who was sponsored to carry out charity work in Sri Lanka.

There will be entertainment on the main stage including the Accrington Pipe Band and The Darwin City Brass Band. 

www.whalleypickwick.org.uk

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