Guildford Festive Fun Day Has The Town Centre Smiling

Published on: 21 Nov, 2022
Updated on: 20 Nov, 2022

By Hugh Coakley

There was a party atmosphere in the Guildford town centre on Sunday (November 20) at the borough council’s family festive fun day.

It attracted the crowds and bought quite a few smiles to faces, especially the children.

The bubble fairy had children and parents laughing and smiling….

And the artificial snow from the Guildhall was a hit with children on the family festive fun day.

Guildford residents Jane Hepburn and Andrew Spiro were enthusiastic. “Absolutely brilliant,” said Jane. Andrew said: “I love the life these events bring to the High Street.”

The snow globe in Phoenix Court had queues through most of the day.

A father with his two children said: “I think it’s fantastic. It encourages families to come out and have some festive fun.”

A toothy grin from Arlo (6) with his dad, Ryan, while they waited to get into the snow globe. Arlo’s best bit was the ice cave though.

Ryan with his six-year-old son, Arlo, were enjoying the day in town. Ryan said: “It’s different and most of the attractions are free.”

The best bit for Arlo was the ice cave in Tunsgate. “It wasn’t cold but there’s lots of traps in there and even a hidden ball pit. I didn’t expect that and I fell in,” he said with a big grin.

The ice cave in Tunsgate held some surprises for the children.

The leader of Guildford Borough Council, Cllr Julia McShane at the family festive fun day was thrilled with the “families and children smiling and having a wonderful time”.

The leader of Guildford Borough Council, Council, Julia McShane (Lib Dem, Westborough) said: “I’m thrilled to see so many people, families and children smiling and having a wonderful time.”

There were activities for the grown-ups as well.

The hilarious cast of The Flint Street Nativity, from the Guildburys Theatre Company playing at the Electric Theatre, gave a taster of the treat to come. You can book tickets online here.

The gift and vegan market looked to be busy. Guildford Borough Council is planning a number of market days in the lead up to Christmas.

The Guildford Vox Community Choir sang beautifully to appreciative audiences in the High Street and in Tunsgate.

Town crier Dave Peters called out “God Save The Queen” by accident. He laughed: “I’ve been toasting the Queen for 30 years now. It’s a habit.”

Cafés and coffee shops reported a good trade on the day. High Street shops said footfall generally increased on the market days but it didn’t always translate into sales.

Cafés did well on the day. Sicool in The Shambles was packed and others said their trade was up.

An elf and two crackers. It is amazing who you bump into in town.

Responses to Guildford Festive Fun Day Has The Town Centre Smiling

George Potter Reply

November 21, 2022 at 10:15 am

It’s worth noting that this is one of a number of events which GBC have organised as a replacement for the Christmas lights switch-on; the same money it would have cost to do a single Christmas lights event is now paying for a whole programme of winter events to bring people into town and boost our local economy and shops.

George Potter is a Lib Dem borough councillor for Burpham.
Amanda Masters Reply

November 21, 2022 at 12:21 pm

It is also worth noting that Experience Guildford added many more acts and performers over the weekend too.

EG are providing kids workshops and walkabout characters, music and magic, every weekend up to Christmas.

There will be roving entertainment every Thursday night between 7pm and 9pm to support the night-time economy.

To support the theatres, the shops (which stay open later) and the later markets planned by GBC, there will be “free after 3pm parking” with the RingGo app at Millbrook, Bedford Road, G Live and Bright Hill car parks.

Also, EG’s Little Book of Offers was launched yesterday.

EG has worked very hard to give people lots of reasons to come to Guildford for Christmas shopping and festive celebrations.

Amanda Masters is the CEO of Experience Guildford
M Durant Reply

November 21, 2022 at 12:44 pm

Nice to see the Christmas market on Sunday but I feel that money should also be spent on fixing the broken benches in the castle grounds (maybe putting metal ones so they can’t be vandalised), they have been broken for months.

Also what happened to putting speed bumps on Castle Street? Yet again someone drove into the front wall of one of the houses. How many times must the owners repair it? It had only just been repaired.

There is a need to prioritise upkeep of the area for residents.
Gina Redpath Reply

November 21, 2022 at 5:35 pm

What a fabulous day for everyone, so many smiling faces and happy people. Well done GBC, you really have excelled this year, I thought the Car-Free Day exceptional but my goodness the Festive Fun Day was brilliant.

Thank goodness the “Lights On” has been replaced by an event that everyone can enjoy.