Rye set to shine with town's Christmas extravaganza

The Rye Christmas Festival team has been hard at work throughout the year preparing for their second big event.

Thanks to generous grants from both Rother District Council and Rye Town Council, the team has been able to secure features for this year’s event including a Victorian style carousel, real reindeer and even a snow globe.

Jenny Sinclair, the festival’s marketing and press coordinator, said: “Without this continued support the festival would struggle to meet the needs of the community by providing low cost, fun activities for families of all ages and budgets.

“This year the team at Rye has been more than blessed with a breath-taking donation, allowing the purchase of more than £16,000 worth of Christmas lighting. There were further blessings for the team when Jenco Electrical Ltd joined forces with EW Production Services Ltd, which donated their time along with a fabulous team of volunteers to tackle the installation of the lights alongside Rod Chapman and his team from Atlas Industrial Park with the tree at the Strand Quay, which is bigger and better than ever this year.”

Rye has also been picked out of thousands of places as one of the top 15 places to visit in the UK in December by holidaylettings.co.uk in its recent blog publication.

Jenny added: “With the potential increase in new visitors to Rye, thanks to the blog posting, the team is hopeful for a fruitful day for the town traders, as well as yet another great atmosphere as hundreds of families come together to enjoy the festival.”

Liz Pen Dennis, festival coordinator, said: “We are blown away by the kindness and generosity that has fallen upon us this year. There is no better reward for all the hours of blood, sweat and tears put into the organising of this event.”

There will be road closures in place. The High Street and all access points to the citadel will be marshalled and access will not be permitted from 8am-6pm. A rolling road closure will be in place for the procession which leaves the station at 4.30pm and will temporarily affect Cinque Ports Street, Tower Street, Station Approach and Ferry Road.

Visit www.christmasinrye.co.uk for details of the day’s events.

Have you checked out our new Christmas section yet?

It’s packed with ideas and tips to ensure you make the most out of the festive season.

There’s recipes, suggestions for presents and everything from choosing your tree to recycling your packaging and paper.

Go to www.ryeandbattleobserver.co.uk/christmas/