The dates for the 2019 Brightlingsea Christmas Tree Festival are Saturday 14 and Sunday 15 December. Further details of the programme for this year’s event will be published shortly.
And The 2018 Brightlingsea Christmas Tree Festival Winners Are…
Each visitor to the festival is given a voting form on arrival and selects their favourite tree and at the end of the festival our amazing volunteers then collate and count all the votes. After careful checks we are delighted to announce that the 2018 Brightlingsea Christmas Tree Festival winners are:
WINNERS
CHILD INDIVIDUALFlorence Andrews “The Hama-tree”
CHILD GROUPWong/Totenhofer family “Chemis-tree”
ADULT INDIVIDUAL
Payne Gunfield “A Spanner in the Works”
ADULT GROUP
Oaklands Care Home “The NHS Angel”
RUNNERS UP – Highly Commended
Adult Group – French Marine “Sleigh Drive”
Child Group – 4th B’Sea Scouts “Tree Prepared”
Who Benefits From The Festival?
Brightlingsea Christmas Tree Festival benefits our whole community. For our visitors it is a wonderful festive experience enjoying the spectacle of the massed Christmas trees, our glorious gift shop and scrumptious larder, delicious home made refreshments, live music throughout the day, an opportunity to meet with friends old and new, and the truly unique atmosphere of our beloved All Saints’ Church at this very special time of year.
For those that create trees its an opportunity to let their imaginations run riot. Watching the joy on the faces of the children who contribute to school and group entries as they see their creations come to life in this beautiful setting is something very special. While for the adults its a chance to let their inner child run riot!
For those working behind the scenes, for the volunteers creating and service refreshments, for all the wonderful singers and musicians who entertain us, its a chance to give something back to our fantastic community.
But alongside the community element there is also a very real fundraising role for the festival. Since it began in 2003 the festival has raised some £120,000 which has been used to support the maintenance and development of Brightlingsea’s historic churches, St James’ in the High Street and All Saints’ on the outskirts of town, which hosts the Christmas Tree Festival.
The Festival has been run under the auspices of the Friends of All Saints’ since the start and they are currently coordinating plans for a major restoration of All Saints’ historic tower and the construction of a purpose built toilet and catering facility at the church. You can find out more about the work of the Friends in the article below:
Shuttle Bus
From 10am the shuttle bus will be running between All Saints’, the Park & Ride car park at Coop Fiveways on Samsons Rd and from outside St James’s Church in the High Street. First pick up will be from St James’ each morning At 10am.
If you are coming into Brightlingsea look out for the Park & Ride signs which will direct you to the car park. The post code for your sat nav is CO7 0RN
The bus makes a circuit approximately every 30 minutes from 10am and will finish at around 5.45pm.
Parking is very limited at the Church so please do use the Park & Ride.
