Ice rink to provide festive boost for shoppers (From York Press)

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Ice rink to provide festive boost for shoppers

9:04am Monday 17th October 2011 in News Photograph of the Author By Mike Laycock, Chief reporter

A mother and son have fun at the ice rink

ORGANISERS of York’s annual ice rink are pressing ahead with plans to expand it into “Yorkshire’s Winter Wonderland” this Christmas.

The huge ice rink will be back at the Designer Outlet coach park at Fulford for the second year running, but this time it will be accompanied by a Christmas market, a fairground and a Santa’s grotto.

Maria Farrugia, of organisers Lunchbox Theatrical Productions, said 20 wooden cabins were being custom-built for the market, which would lead down to the rink from the outlet’s south entrance and sell local foods and a variety of goods including toys and jewellery.

“The fairground will feature a ferris wheel, a helter skelter, dodgems and game stalls, and Santa will have his own grotto, opening in December,” she said.

The wonderland will open to the public on November 26 and last until January 8, one week less than last year, after planning permission was obtained earlier this year for the next five years, despite the concerns of some local people about noise and disturbance.

The rink moved to the outlet in 2010 after having to leave its traditional home in the Eye of York because of objections from officials at the nearby York Crown Court.

About 40,000 skaters visited the attraction last year, despite the bitterly cold and snowy December.

Maria said that although it had been disappointing to have to leave the city centre, the move out to the outlet meant there was now the space to expand the attraction into something much more than an ice rink alone.

She said prices for the rink would be held at last year’s levels and the attraction would be marketed to customers from all over Yorkshire.

News of the outlet wonderland comes days after city centre bosses revealed they are planning a festive fair in Parliament Street throughout much of December, featuring 40 custom-built seasonal huts selling crafts and foods.

The Press - Comment

York getting into the festive spirit

When tourism chief Gillian Cruddas claimed last week that York is now the most Christmassy city in the UK, rival destinations – such as Lincoln, with its huge Christmas market – may have begged to differ.

But York is certainly stepping up its game in the battle to attract vital festive custom from across the region, which will be needed if the city is to ride out the country’s economic crisis.

We reported last week how a new festive fair is set to run through most of December in Parliament Street, featuring 40 custom-built seasonal huts selling crafts and foods, accompanied by “gentle festive music, and an “olde festive inne.”

Before that, the centre will again host the traditional St Nicholas Fayre and in mid-December, the Swinegate area will once more be staging its Festival Of Angels.

Now it has emerged that the annual skating rink at the Designer Outlet on the city’s outskirts is set to become part of a much bigger attraction, dubbed Yorkshire’s Winter Wonderland, featuring another Christmas market, a fairground and a Santa’s grotto.

The wonderland will be marketed across Yorkshire, and hopefully shoppers will visit the city centre as well after spending time at the outlet.

The Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, probably summed up the city’s festive efforts best when he said: “Nowhere gets into the Christmas spirit quite like York does.”

Comments(11)

Mr Trellis says...
9:21am Mon 17 Oct 11

Is that it?. Is that really the best the retail gurus can do. A few mud huts and a merry go round. Its suppost to be the Designer Centre not the Jorvic Centre On a positive at least its one less in Market Street but why stop there why not move Newgate Market to Monks Cross.