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Hugely successful Caerphilly Winter Fair and River of Light Lantern Parade bring record breaking amount of visitors to the town

Posted on : 14 Dec 2022

The third Winter Food and Craft Fair of the year which took place in Caerphilly Town Centre on Saturday 3rd December was another huge success for the borough.

A striking number of over 7,500 people were recorded on the town centre footfall counter; more than double the number of visitors compared to the previous weekend. An astounding 25,500 were recorded on Castle Court Shopping Centres footfall counter which is greater than those recorded at the Food Festival and the Saturday of the Little Cheese Festival earlier in the year. In addition, 2,000-3,000 people came to watch the spectacular lantern parade and fireworks display later in the evening, following nearly 1,000 lanterns having been made at the workshops leading up to the parade.

There were over 60 food and craft stalls in attendance throughout the day some of which were the Caerphilly Artisan Market, Crafty Legs Food and Craft Fair and Castle Court Craft & Food Market. Most traders sold out. All of the street performers really brought the entertainment, these included Ice Prince, roving snowflake, Santa’s elves with their Good-O-Meter, Surf’s Up Santa, and stilt-walking Christmas tree. There were also some amazing live performers in the parade; Henllys Pipes & Drums Band, Cardiff Imperial Redcoats, Samba Galêz, and Giant Lumens.

Hear what local businesses had to say about the event:

Sarah Harris-Clint of Crafty Legs Events commented “What an amazing day and an awesome evening. So proud and pleased to be part of such a brilliant community event in our local town. It was fantastic to see so many happy smiley faces around and to see it so busy. Our crafters and small businesses loved it. The event was very well organised from start to finish and the lantern parade and fireworks were a fantastic end to a superb day for Caerphilly!”

Christopher Hall of Caerphilly Artisan Market said, “Everyone who joined us at Caerphilly Artisan Market had a fantastic time at Caerphilly Food and Craft Fair, the atmosphere was electric, to see so many people out enjoying themselves was magic, and the fireworks at the end, pretty special.”

Martin Cook at Coffi Vista commented “It was one of our most successful winter trading days ever in Caerphilly! We extended our opening ours to reflect the opening hours of the event. It was a great success on our part. It was great to see so many visitors to the town from outside the area. The way the castle was lit up, the fireworks and inclusion of the River of Light Lantern Parade really added to the festivities and the atmosphere. I really hope that it’ll be something that continues in the future!”

Cllr Jamie Pritchard, Cabinet Member for Prosperity, Regeneration & Climate Change, said “Another huge successful event in Caerphilly. Traders and residents coming out in droves to support the town. Fantastic!”

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