Keynsham Winter Festival 2024
Published: 05 August 2024
Mark your Calendars for Keynsham Winter Festival
Now on Saturday 30th November, 12-7pm to allow more time for Festival Fun
Keynsham Town Council’s much loved Winter Festival is back for 2024, but this time with extended hours and a slight shift to the day to better accommodate the volume of people expected to attend this year’s event. For the first time ever, the Winter Festival will be held on Saturday 30th November from 12-7pm but will still include all the long-time favourites like local market stalls, local musicians, street entertainment and fun fair. The daytime event will now allow Festival-goers, both young and old alike, to fully enjoy the Winter Festival without any time pressures.
“We listened to the community, local businesses and event traders about the Winter Festival timings and took the feedback on board,” said Katherine Sears, Deputy Town Clerk, Keynsham Town Council. “Some of Keynsham’s older generation weren’t comfortable attending the Winter Festival in the nighttime and many families felt the event started too late in the day for their young children. Equally, businesses along the High Street, Market Walk and Temple Street were unable to maximise their trading as there were too many shoppers in too short a time period; whilst for other businesses, the event was outside their regular trading hours and therefore those businesses saw no benefit.”
Keynsham Winter Festival has been running for over 25 years, originally as Victorian Evening and now as the Winter Festival. During this time, the number of visitors to the Winter Festival has increased year-on-year and the event itself has grown in size. Coupled with the current cost of living crisis, more families from Keynsham and surrounding areas are looking for free or inexpensive ways to spend time together. This means that community events such as the Winter Festival must adapt to meet the new need of the community and surrounding areas.
“Alongside the increase volume of people attending the event, there are also some upcoming changes to the legislation surrounding outdoor events, and in particular road closure safety, that also spurred on the timing of the change,” said Katherine Sears. “Our biggest priority is always about making sure everyone is safe during our community events, but of course we can still have a lot of fun while doing it.”
As in recent years, Festival goers can expect a free Santa’s Grotto experience courtesy of The SouthWest Lions Club and sponsored for the second year in a row by MG Estates. Other festival favourites such as face painting, street entertainers and much more can be expected with further details to come. The Christmas Jumper Swap that was hugely popular last year is also back with swap dates being shared in the coming months. Keynsham Town Council will release all details of the Winter Festival on The Council’s Facebook and Instagram pages in the run up to the event.
Keynsham Market Stall Applications Now Open
Keynsham Town Council is now accepting applications from market stall holders who are interested in being a part of the Winter Festival. Local businesses can apply by clicking here: https://4f1hjv2t.forms.app/keynshamwinterfestival2024stallapplication. Applications must be submitted by 13th September for consideration.
For more information or with any queries relating to the Winter Festival please contact Katherine Sears, Deputy Town Clerk, Keynsham Town Council on deputytownclerk@keynsham-tc.gov.uk or phone 0117 9868683.