CHRISTMAS MARKET RETURNS TO STOCKTON
STOCKTON Sparkles Christmas Market returns to Parish Gardens this week with a host of log cabins full of goodies perfect for Christmas gifts.
From Thursday 6 to Sunday 9 December the popular log cabin village will be open for business and will create a magical Christmas atmosphere for all the family. Shoppers will also be treated to a festive programme of live music on the Thursday and Friday evenings and throughout the day on Saturday and Sunday.
There will be 37 cabins selling a wide range of gifts – such as candles, soaps, clothing and jewellery – decorations for the home plus lots of stalls offering festive fayre and the best in locally made produce.
Entrepreneurs from across the Borough will also join the traders to sell their wares. Learners from Stockton Council’s Tees Achieve will be selling a range of crafts including greetings cards made by the advanced photography class. The cards depict some of the best bits of Stockton Borough – taken from a different viewpoint and were created by learners preparing portfolios for the Royal Society of Photography. The profit from the sale of these cards will be donated to the Billingham food bank.
Budding businesses from secondary school enterprise projects will also bring their products to sell at the market. The ‘Made in Stockton ’ project began in Global Enterprise Week in November when the pupils were given the challenge to develop a range of innovative yet marketable items to sell during this year’s market.
The youngsters from ten schools have been bitten by the Christmas bug creating Christmas themed gifts, cards, stockings, bags of reindeer dust and decorations to sell.
Whilst trading, local business mentors will judge the fledging businesses in a range of competition categories.
From 10am to 7pm on Thursday 6 December there will be a children’s trail around Parish Gardens where children can complete puzzles to find a secret reindeer.
Over the four days of the Market Tees Achieve is hosting a Santa’s grotto in one of the cabins. There is also a range of activities on offer during the times when Santa isn’t in residence. Come along and write a letter to Santa with your wish list or make your own visit to see the man himself. Tickets to visit Santa cost £1 per child which includes a voucher for hot chocolate for the adult and a gift for the child. For times and more details www.stocktonsparkles.co.uk
Make the most of your trip to Stockton Sparkles market by taking the opportunity to visit Stockton ’s many independent shops in the Town Centre as well as all the High Street favourites.”
Stockton Sparkles Market is open from 10am to 7pm, Thursday to Saturday and from 10am to 4pm on Sunday.
For more information about the market and Stockton Sparkles’ exciting programme over the next three weeks visit www.stocktonsparkles.co.uk
Stockton-on-Tees was awarded Gold in the Champion of Champions category for Britain in Bloom 2012.
