A Christmas weekend cracker is being brought to you by Warrington Business Improvement District. And what better way to start the festive season than with a whole weekend of Christmas activity and events taking place across Warrington Town Centre. Here's the list of events on the Saturday: 

Christmas Artisan Markets - from 10am to 7pm

Warrington BID has joined forces with Independent Street Markets to showcase local artists and makers who will be providing a unique selection of foods and crafts over the weekend, whilst also creating a fantastic Christmas day out for all. With over 70 Christmas market stalls along Bridge Street, Marketgate, Horsemarket Street, Buttermarket Street and Bank Street.

So, expect amazing local food - freshly baked produce from micro bakeries, tasty street food, epic cakes, award winning Warrington based pies, fresh roasted coffee, Indian treats and delicacies, artisan gin, olives, and deli. There will also be beautiful, handcrafted jewellery, unique arts, craft, hand poured candles, cheese truckles, mulled wine, local photography, dog treats and much more.

Join Radio Warrington at Marketgate, where they’ll be broadcasting live, entertaining us with Christmas songs throughout the day, building up to the lantern parade at 5:15pm.

Funfair and swing grill - from 10am to 9pm

Chadwick Funfair will land in Warrington once more, with a collection of fairground rides, including a carousel, train ride, Disney character toy ride and plenty of tasty Bratwurst!
Community and School Christmas choir performances - from 10am to 5pm

Join us over in Old Market Place at Golden Square, where there will be a host of community and school choirs performing on the stage, spreading their festive joy. Please see the below list of performers for our Carols around the Tree:

10am - Cinnamon Brow school

11am - Barrow Hall school

1pm - Wired for Sound choir

2pm - St Phillips C of E school

3pm - Penketh Primary school

4pm - Warrington Youth Zone choir

5pm - St Thomas school
The return of At no.25 Christmas Installation – from 10am to 4pm

Back by popular demand, we see the return of Culture Warrington’s At No.25 Christmas Installation from last year  but with a slightly different twist for 2022. Artists Erica Wilkinson and Lauren Muir have created a festive Nordic inspired   space that will feel safe, comforting and fulfilling - a magical space that will encourage a moment of peace, calm and creativity in the busy Christmas shopping period, that facilitates the meeting of both friends and strangers. We will also add some magic by exploring some festive Nordic folklore characters and workshops throughout December.

Lantern Making Workshops - from 10:30am to 3pm

Culture Warrington and Community objectives will be continuing their popular lantern making workshops at Chester University Campus (Time Square). This is a great opportunity for all the family to create a lantern together that can be used for the Town Centre Parade at 5:15pm (Available on a first come first served basis
Warrington Contemporary Art Festival Fringe – from 11am to 6pm

Come along to New Art Spaces (Former M&S) as Warrington Contemporary Arts Festival launch their first ever Fringe Festival in collaboration with Warrington and Vale Royal College! Inspired by the theme of ‘Connections’ students will transform the ground floor of the former M&S site into a unique exhibition with additional windows installation and live performance throughout the day. Find out more on the Culture Warrington website. 

Father Christmas and his sleigh - from 1.30pm to 6pm 

Father Christmas will park his sleigh in town with his Reindeers (props), so you can take a seat and snap a precious memory. Father Christmas will be exploring the town centre and what we have on offer, chatting to all our children and finding out if they are on the naughty or nice list J He will also be joining you all on the lantern parade from Marketgate to the Town Hall.
Street Entertainers - from 3pm to 6pm

Special guests will be joining us on the streets of Warrington from 3pm. We have all your favourite Christmas characters including Santa’s Elves, the grinch and a few surprises!

Katumba Drummers – from 4.30pm

Performing at Marketgate from 4:30pm, Katumba Drumming & Movement will create an explosion of rhythmic revelry described by onlookers as ‘hypnotic’, ‘transfixing’ and ‘empowering’. There Brazilian drums, spectacular choreography and a colossal sound will set the streets a blaze!

Lantern parade - from 5:15pm

Starting on Marketgate at 5:15pm, the Lantern Parade will set off with Katumba drummers leading the way down Sankey Street to the Town Hall where everyone will assemble on the front lawn for the Projection switch on.

The Parade will be filled with Christmas cheer, Father Christmas and his elves, the grinch and the Mayor of Warrington.

A Spectacular After Dark, light & sound show – from 6pm

A magical light and sound show of a festive story celebrating Christmas and New Year will be projected across the front of the Town Hall building from 6pm on the 26 and 27 November. The festive show projection will last 15 minutes on a rolling basis until 9pm, so that passers-by who arrive near the end won’t need to wait long to see it start again.

The bespoke animation produced by Culture Warrington has been specially designed for Warrington by Double Take Projections, and will fit perfectly into the stonework of the Town Hall. Find out more on the We Are Warrington website.