ICM Chairman Dr Alistair Somerville Ford was pleased to be the main sponsor of the 2007 Christchurch Christmas Festival - reaffirming ICM’s commitment to promoting the education, welfare and interest of children, young people and adults, as well as the interest of the local community in and around Christchurch.

The ninth Christchurch Christmas Festival took place on Saturday 1 December, treating Christchurch’s residents and visitors to an abundance of festive-themed entertainment, activities and events. Most anticipated, of course, was the Christmas lights switch-on which saw huge crowds gather at the front of the Mayor’s Parlour on the High Street to watch The Mayor of Christchurch, Councillor Mrs Josephine Spencer, and Dominic Lees-Bell from Swish of the Curtain Drama School pull the switch – brightly lighting up the High Street and the giant Christmas tree.

It was the first time the festival has been held on a Saturday and despite the rain, which swept down in the afternoon, thousands turned out to enjoy the event, which has been taking place in the town since 1999. ICM Chairman, Dr Alistair Somerville Ford, was proud to be the festival’s main sponsor, with his generous donation paying for the day’s attractions – most notably two reindeer which were specially flown in from Lapland.

How the Festival began

Seeing so many families flock to Christchurch to enjoy the Festival, it is difficult to imagine that the town once didn’t have its own event to mark the occasion. In fact, according to Christchurch Council’s Economic Development Manager and Chairman of the Christchurch Christmas Festival Committee, Paul Riley, the idea originally occurred “almost by accident.” Back in 1999, Paul and his colleague Christchurch Council Tourism Manager, Ann Simon, were liaising with Christchurch retailers regarding the ways in which the town’s business community could embrace Christmas in the town centre.

They then set up a meeting with the Christchurch Chamber of Trade & Commerce to explore whether there was a willingness to create a Christmas event on a partnership basis involving a number of key stakeholders in the town centre, and to look into holding late night shopping evenings during the festive period. Paul explained: “I had previously worked in Weymouth and knew how successful the Victorian-themed late night shopping evenings were down there. If Weymouth could make something work for them, why couldn’t Christchurch do the same?”

The Chamber of Trade & Commerce embraced the idea and set up a group involving not just its own members, but also other groups and organisations including the Borough Council, Soroptomists, Federation of Churches, the Police and local schools. Paul added: “Those were pioneering days and a huge number of hours went into planning the first [Festival] but it was all worthwhile. Most of the town centre was closed to traffic on the night and residents and visitors flocked to the town to enjoy a wonderful festive atmosphere created by a Christmas Market, carol singing, official Christmas Lights ‘switch on’ and Christmas shopping throughout the evening.”

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1. Introduction
2. Strong community spirit
3. True sense of occasion
4. Photo Gallery
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