Eastbourne’s Cracker of a Christmas!
IT’S CHRISTMAAAASSSSSS!!!
Just because 2020 has been a bit rubbish, does not mean that Christmas needs to be cancelled! Your Eastbourne BID has been planning Christmas 2020 since last year and our plans have had to change many times. Now though, we have the below details finalised and confirmed (more to come soon). There might be last minute changes due to regulations but we are confident that Eastbourne’s Christmas 2020 will not be cancelled.
Lights
Much of the lighting scheme is replicated from last year, with lights in Little Chelsea, Terminus Road, Cornfield Road, Cornfield Terrace and Gildredge Road.
In addition to this, we are including new installations in Station Parade as well as the return of lights in Bolton Road and Langney Road. Also, we have commissioned festoon lighting (like that in Grove Road over winter) to be installed in Station Street and Terminus Road between Cancer Research UK and TJ Hughes.
These should all be installed by 16th November.
Christmas Magazine
We have partnered with The Beacon to co-fund a 16-page Christmas magazine for Eastbourne. In total, 40,000 will be produced, of which 35,000 will be sent to the secondary catchment area and 5,000 distributed locally at the TIC, Beacon, Enterprise Centre and Train Station. Thank you to all those of you who sent us content. We have sent it to the designers and we are now waiting for the first draft.
We also have the Eastbourne Christmas website, which is being updated on a regular basis. You can find out all about Eastbourne’s Cracker of a Christmas by visiting the website here.
Christmas Market and Christmas Youth Market
The Christmas Market will be taking place from 17th to 20th December. It will feature both some of our regular traders, but we are also working closely with East Sussex College Group, National Market Traders Federation and Brighton University to provide opportunities for young people (aged 16-30) to be able to trade at the event. It will be taking place following COVID regulations and will stretch from the Halifax to the Enterprise Centre to ensure social distancing. As part of the activities, East Sussex College will also be looking at projecting a Christmas video onto the wall of the Beacon.
Additionally, children’s vintage funfair rides will be in place in Terminus Road from 7th December until January – COVID dependent.
Some aspects of the market may need to be reduced, but at present we do have plans for a stage with live entertainment. We are confident though that an outside market can take place.
Find out more about the Eastbourne Christmas Market by visiting www.eastbournechristmas.com
Eastbourne’s Best Ever Year Raffle
We are really excited to be organising a Christmas draw this year. For every £40 a customer spends in any business within the BID between 1st and 24th December, they can bring their receipt to one of our distribution points (venues to be confirmed) and receive a raffle ticket.
The first prize is HUGE! The winner will receive ‘The Best Eastbourne Year’ in 2021, with tickets to all Eastbourne’s big events, including tennis and VIP Airbourne tickets, theatre tickets, £300 in Enterprise Centre vouchers, lunches and dinners, a new television, Ninja Warrior passes, and so much more!
The draw will be held at 5pm on Christmas Eve and streamed live to Facebook.
Find more information about the raffle by visiting the website.
The Great Elf Hunt
Once again, we will be launching the Great Elf Hunt in the town – encouraging children to find elves that have hidden in shop windows. Children who find all ten will be entered into a prize draw.
If you would like an elf to hide out in your place of work from 1st December, please let us know by emailing [email protected] . We would really like to have two or three children’s hampers as prizes so if you can donate a small prize, that will be fantastic.
Get Involved
If you would like to get involved in this year’s Christmas celebrations, pop over to the Eastbourne Christmas website and find out how. We will be looking for adverts from BID businesses to be played on Elf Radio, market stalls and prize donations for the raffles.
To discuss any of this with one of the BID Team, email [email protected]
Visit our Christmas website for further information about our Christmas activities.
