New for 2018: Extra day added, exciting new traders and demonstrations
Now in its seventh year this popular event is widely acknowledged as one of East Anglia’s exceptional Christmas experiences. Over 120 bespoke stalls fill the Cathedral’s magnificent Nave, its famous Lady Chapel and a heated marquee in the grounds. In addition to shopping, visitors to the Fair can enjoy creative demonstrations, musical entertainment, festive foods, a vintage carousel and reindeer.
Discover perfect presents for family and friends from over a hundred handpicked stalls selling gorgeous gifts and seasonal goodies. Some new traders for this year include Feathers & Paws providing a vast array or fun and essential gifts for all your pets; Made in Province with delightful French pottery, homeware and food gifts from la belle France; Bunting Mad for hand-made bunting for every occasion and BewilderBeast showcasing local artist Ian Hamilton’s humour and talent in prints and cards.
For the first time this year there will be a special demonstration focusing on Christmas wrapping with a difference. Helena from Enwrapture will be showing creative ways to wrap Christmas gifts using fabric and ribbon and how these materials can be upcycled for other uses. Floral experts will lead demonstrations on how to create contemporary decorations for you home from simple decorative branches to completely over the top table displays. The Arty Crafty Place will be showing visitors how to create their own wrapping paper tags and gift using traditional wooden block printing tools.
The Christmas Fair is as much about family fun as shopping. One of the highlights is a steam carousel, dating back to 1886, has been painstakingly restored and is complimented with a Limonaire 54 key organ. Located on the green with the Cathedral as its backdrop this has become a major attraction and can be enjoyed by visitors of all ages. No Christmas event would be complete without Elves and Reindeer so Prancer and Dasher will be making a very welcome return on the Saturday.
“Every year we aim to make the Christmas Gift & Food Fair a more exciting and attractive day out. We have limited the number of tickets and added an additional day to meet the demand and create a less crowded, more pleasurable experience for visitors. If last year is anything to go buy we strongly recommend you buy your tickets in advance.”
The event runs from 15th – 17th November
To book tickets visit www.elycathedral.org or contact the Cathedral Box Office on 01353 660349
Press release from Ely Cathedral
