Free parking announced to support Christmas events and local businesses over the festive season!

A series of free parking days have been announced for Wrexham town centre this Christmas to help support a series of events and the local economy over the festive period.

Although Christmas may still be six weeks away, locally the yuletide celebrations will get underway as early as next week – with the Christmas light switch on taking place on November 22nd.

Thursday’s event is one of several to benefit from free parking in all council owned car parks over the next month.

A full run down of the Christmas calendar – including the return of the Victorian Market and the launch of a new Christmas Village – can be found below:

Christmas Light Switch On – Thursday 22nd November

Kicking off the festive offering is this year’s Christmas light switch on, which has been organised by the Rotary Club of Wrexham Glyndwr with the support of Wrexham Council’s events team.

Taking place on Queens Square from from 5:30pm, the event will feature live music, entertainment, starts of local pantomime Jack and the Bean Stalk – along with a firework finale and the town’s Christmas lights switched on at 7:30pm.

Parking in all the Council’s town centre car park will be free after 4pm.

Small Business Saturday – Saturday 1st December

Come and support local businesses in the town centre on Small Business Saturday, a national event that Wrexham has taken part in for several years. Parking will be free in all council car parks after 10am.

Victorian Market and Late night shopping – Thursday 6th December

One of the biggest and most anticipated festive events in Wrexham will return early in December, with the Victorian Market once again see Queen’s Square to St Giles Church packed with stalls selling a selection of festive treats and gifts alongside entertainment and a traditional carousel.

Thousands of people attend the event each year and this Christmas is expected to be no different.

The date also marks the start of free parking for late night shopping which will continue on December 13 and 20 when shops are encouraged to stay open late.

Parking will be free in all council car parks after 4pm.

Christmas Village – Friday 14th, Saturday 15th and Sunday 16th December

A new event for shoppers and visitors this year and a very exciting addition for the festive season. A three-day winter wonderland is planned. The Christmas Village takes place on December 14th, 15th and 16th and parking will be free after 10am.

More information on this new event is expected to be released in the next few weeks!

Christmas Shopping Week – Monday 17th December to Monday 24th December

The final days before Christmas will see parking free after 10am between December 17th and 24th. Don’t miss the opportunity to bag last minute bargains and take advantage of all that’s on offer in the town centre.

Cllr David A Bithell, lead member for environment and transport, said: “Even though we continue to face financial challenges we now how important it is to support our events programme over the Christmas period.

“Supporting our events and giving free parking on key dates in the lead up to Christmas is a boost to the local economy. We hope this will help our traders, particularly our independents, to take full advantage of the extra shoppers this will bring in.

“Staff have worked hard to bring all these events to Wrexham and I hope the free parking will play a large part in encouraging visitors to them.”

Free parking is on offer at the times stated above in all town centre council owned car parks – full details of local authority car parks can be found here.