KEYNSHAM Winter Festival will light up the town on the evening of Friday November 24.
The event, organised by the town council, will offer a feast of family fun from 6pm to 9pm.
St John’s Church will host the Keynsham Christmas tree, as well as Frozen princess lookalikes Elsa and Anna.
The main stage at the top of the High Street, near the church, will feature performances from Razzamataz Theatre School and Heidi Marie Dance Academy, before the TimeOut Youth Team take over from 7.30pm.
Fear Hall will host several market stalls, while Keynsham Baptist Church and Keynsham Methodist Church will feature performances from Keynsham Brass Band and Key Voices.
Visitors to the High Street can also expect street performers, toy tombola and stalls, while restaurants will be out selling street food.
Market Walk will be filled with stalls, food trucks and funfair rides for younger children. Visitors can also find the town council information desk next to the Clock Tower with its final Christmas Jumper Swap of the year.
Outside the library will be a pop-up performance zone for community groups. A Punch and Judy puppet show will be held in the library, while more performances will be held upstairs in The Space.
New for this year, Keynsham Leisure Centre will host stalls, a toy tombola and free face-painters. The soft play area will be open until 8pm.
The MakeSpace venue across from the leisure centre will offer snowy fun for the under-11s, with two dancing snowmen and a chance to throw light-weight snowballs at targets.
The fun fair is back along Temple Street this year and will include a ferris wheel, helter-skelter and other rides.
New for the festival is a Santa’s Grotto, where visitors can meet Santa and share their Christmas wishes. For anyone looking to have photos printed on the night, Keynsham Photo Centre is open late.
Street closures will be in place from 3.30pm to 10pm. They will include part of Charlton Road from the Tesco mini roundabout to the High Street, the whole of the High Street, and part of Temple Street from Iceland to Carpenters Lane.
The exit from the Tesco car park on to Charlton Road will be right-hand turn only during the road closure period.
There will be a short closure of Bath Hill/Temple Street to allow the procession from Keynsham Memorial Park gates to the junction with High Street. Traffic will be stopped by stop/go board operators between Bath Hill roundabout and the lights at the pedestrian crossing on Rock Road.
Diversions will be in operation for those driving through the town. It is essential that cars along the High Street are removed by 3.30pm to avoid interfering with the event set-up.
Parking suspensions will be in place from Thursday November 23 in front of Southside Block, Temple Street, the side loading bay between the library and the old fire station, and the loading bay in front of Sainsbury’s.
Keynsham Dial-A-Ride will run a free service from 5pm to 9.25pm, between the Waitrose car park and Ashton Way. This year, the route is being extended to include Somerdale and the Queens Road area.
The festival committee is grateful to all businesses that have supported the event, with special thanks to sponsors Argyll Design, Davies & Way, Eveleighs Estate Agents, IJ McGill, MG Estate Agents, Mokka, Olivia’s Boutique, Redfern Osteopaths, Smart Computers, and W&W Memorials.
For more information – including park-and-ride timings – and an event map, visit the Keynsham Town Council Facebook and Instagram pages. A free festival programme will also be available in High Street shops from early November.
You can also contact Katherine Sears (deputy town clerk) on 0117 9868683 or email deputytownclerk@keynsham-tc.gov.uk
Keynsham Winter Festival to light up the town
