The Winterval Festival in Waterford is set to open with three days of celebrations as the City begins its 12th annual Winterval Festival and its title as the European City of Christmas.
On Friday, November 15th festive events commence, and getting the offering of festivities underway this year will be the Mayor of Waterford City and County, Councillor Jason Murphy, and, of course, Santa Claus will be arriving just in time from the North Pole to switch on the Christmas lights at the city at a fun-filled ceremony on November 15th at 6 pm and declaring the festival open.
WLR will be broadcasting live for the event from Waterford City Centre from 3:00 - 6:00 on the Spin Home with John Keane.
At 5.30 pm on Saturday, November 16th, the now famous Winterval Parade will take place in the City with a ceremony to officially declare the European City of Christmas title. The parade will arrive at Parnell Street and travel onto the Mall.
It will feature some of the wonderful delights of the festival including the acts from The Trash Test Dummies, the cast of Waterford Panto's 'and the delightful Waterford Viking Elves, 'old world' choristers, the Winterval Mini Express Train, visitors from The North Pole, Monster Trucks, Nutcracker Brass Band, Fire Performers, some of the big man's naughtiest elves and even Mrs Claus.
Winterval Festivities.
The Winterval programme is packed with festival favorites like the Winterval Illuminates Lightshow offering an enchanting evening spectacle, the ice rink on the city's Quayside, the vintage Ferris wheel at Arundel Square, a vintage carousel in John Robert's Square, the Port of Waterford Eye and the Winterval mini Express train, the Elf workshops, Polish Christmas, Santa's VR sleigh ride in Cathedral Square, helter-skelter and more. Santa takes centre stage of course at the festival in the City's medieval caverns underneath the stunning Medieval Museum in the Viking Triangle.
There are over 50 events and over half are free of charge, some of the free events on the programme include a magical GLOW garden, a Viking Elf trail hunt, a Viking Yule Village by Deise Medieval, storytelling sessions with Kitty Caboodle, a roaming 'Old World group of carolers' a free music stage, a model circus and fairground exhibition and lots more.
To attract new audiences to Winterval and scaling the festival up after dark is a brand-new after-dark programme of events for adults, 'The Winterval Big Top Live' will host a series of events, artists and performances throughout the festival with gig tickets available for sale on www.winterval.ie from today. Artists include Gavin James, Mick Flannery, Stereo MCs, EMF, and 30 Years of House Music with Tasty Choons for Tasty People.
A primary attraction is The Glenveagh Christmas Market at Winterval and this year over 100 food, craft, and drinks producers and creators are set to feature across the festival. It is set out in a series of attractive wooden cabins through the spine of Ireland's oldest city into the cultural quarter; spanning the Viking city from George's Street to Hanover Street and onto O'Connell Street and Gladstone Street, and all in the midst of the Winterval family fun attractions.
The 12th annual Winterval Festival programme is available to view and book online at www.winterval.ie
Winterval is supported by Waterford City and County Council as well as a host of other local, national, and international businesses.
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