Two town events shortlisted for regional tourism award

Wrexham.com for people living in or visiting the Wrexham area

This article is old - Published: Wednesday, Oct 24th, 2018

Two of Wrexham’s biggest events have been shortlisted for a tourism industry award.

The Wrexham Victorian Christmas Market and the new This Is Wrexham Food & Drink Festival have both made the final for the ‘Go North Wales Tourism Awards’ next month in Venue Cymru, Llandudno.

Seen as a staple event in the town’s festive offering, Wrexham’s Victorian market – the largest in North Wales – attracts thousands of visitors each year to the town centre.

Held on the first Thursday of December, the 2017 event saw more than 100 traditional stalls threading through the streets from St Giles Parish Church through to Queens Square.

The event is believed to attract up to 10,000 visitors to town giving the local economy up to a £500,000 boost.

Town Centre, Markets & Event Manager at Wrexham Council, Amanda Davies said that the team were thrilled to be shortlisted for the award: “After winning back in 2017 with Underneath the Arches, it’s great to see another fantastic Wrexham-based event shortlisted for a regional tourism award again this year.

“The Victorian Christmas Market is a real cornerstone in the town centre event calendar and we’ve worked hard to maintain a traditional feel to the market, whilst extending it through town to accommodate more visitors and help support other businesses in the town too.”

Organisers of the new revamped This Is Wrexham Food & Drink Festival were equally thrilled to be shortlisted having only just delivered the first event last month, having taken over the reins from Nightingale House this year.

The two day event attracted over 5,500 visitors over the weekend and welcomed a raft of food & drink producers from across the region.

Destination Manager at Wrexham Council Joe Bickerton works closely with the This Is Wrexham Team who delivered the event added: “The Go North Wales Tourism Awards are set-up to celebrate the very best visitor products across North Wales, so for the judges to acknowledge the This Is Wrexham Food & Drink Festival’s success after their first year is great news for the team!

“The festival was really well received and the team of passionate volunteers – many with their own full-time businesses – really worked hard to make the event a success.

“Our local food & drink is a really important feature of Wrexham County’s identity, so to have this team come together to not only continue, but also enhance this annual festival was superb and they fully deserve their shortlisting.”

Last year, it was another leading Wrexham event – Underneath the Arches – which won ‘best crowd puller (under 7.5k attendees) at the awards, before going forward to the National Welsh Tourism awards in Cardiff where it came second behind the global event of the 2017 UEFA Champions League Final that was held in Cardiff.