A cracking start to Christmas in Chorley

CHORLEY’S Christmas activities got off to a cracking start at the weekend as families descended on the town to take part in the UK’s first Nutcracker trail and storytelling, ride the Chorley Christmas Express land train, meet Father Christmas at Astley Hall and enjoy lots of laughs at the pantomime performance of Dick Whittington.

And the good news is that Chorley Council has organised more of the same for the next three weekends up to and including Saturday 20 December.

Children and adults have been swept up by the magic of Chorley’s Nutcracker attraction, hunting in and around Chorley town centre for 15 eight feet tall Nutcracker soldiers.  Each Nutcracker soldier has their own number and families are hunting for them to be in with a chance of winning a prize.
For those who don’t know the story of the Nutcracker, there’s also an extra-large book on Cleveland Street, just outside the Covered Market, which tells of the adventures of Clara and her Nutcracker soldier. 

Plus, every Saturday, children and their families are invited to pull up one of the unique story book seats to hear various story tellers read the story of the Nutcracker at 11am, 12 noon, 2pm and 3pm.
This is the first time the Nutcracker soldiers and story book have been seen in the UK after previously being on display in Europe.

Councillor Peter Wilson, the Deputy Leader of Chorley Council who is responsible for Chorley’s Christmas attractions, said: “It’s been fantastic to see so many children and their families enjoying Chorley’s Nutcracker trail and storytelling. 

“This weekend, there was hundreds of people searching for our eight feet tall Nutcracker soldiers and enjoying the amazing storytelling and it was brilliant to see everyone having good time.
“The Nutcracker soldiers will remain in their secret locations for the rest of December so if you would like to join in the hunt for them, please pick up a leaflet from the council’s buildings or from shops across the town centre, fill in the locations and hand it to be in with a chance of winning a top prize.

“We also had nearly 300 people come along to Chorley town hall for a special performance of Dick Whittington and Chorley’s Christmas Express land train was running between Union Street and Astley Hall to take lots of families who had pre-booked to see Father Christmas at Astley Hall.  In fact, the attraction has proven so popular, it’s nearly sold out for the next few weekends but we are looking to release more tickets online at chorley.gov.uk in the next few days.

“If anyone does want to see Father Christmas at Astley Hall, I would advise them to keep checking the what’s on section of our website but people can pay on the day to travel on the land train between Chorley town centre and Astley Hall.”

In addition to the Nutcracker trail and storytelling and the chance to ride on Chorley’s Christmas Express land train, there is more entrainment planned for Chorley town centre with Chorley Traders Alliance organising activities for Small Business Saturday on the 6 December, brass bands playing in town on the 13 December and festive street entertainers on Saturday 20 December.

Father Christmas has also installed his special Christmas post box in Market Walk, Chorley, where children can post their letters direct to him.

For more information on Chorley’s Christmas attractions including further details on the Nutcracker trail, visit chorley.gov.uk, like Chorley Council on Facebook or follow @ChorleyCouncil on Twitter.

ENDS

Picture captions:
Father Christmas at Astley Hall with Peyton Kime age 3 and mum Kathy from Chorley