Underneath the Arches scoops top North Wales tourism award!

One of Wrexham’s largest and most visually spectacular events has branded one of the best visitor events in the region at a top awards ceremony.

Underneath the Arches, held at Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, received the accolade after winning the Magnificent Crowd Puller (under 7.5k) at the North Wales Tourism Awards last night.

Organised in collaboration between This is Wrexham and Wrexham Council’s events team, Underneath the Arches attracts thousands of people to the county borough each summer for an evening of live music, fireworks and of course the illumination of the 126ft tall pillars of Thomas Telford’s aqueduct.

In July 2017 more than 3,000 people flocked to the World Heritage Site, marking the fifth year of the Underneath the Arches celebrations.

The local event was up faced tough competition and was up against 100 entities and four shortlisted finalists – Anglesey Circuit, Eirias park Rugby and the Hawarden Estate Good Life Festival.

Commenting on the success of the Underneath the Arches, Destination Manager at Wrexham Council, Joe Bickerton and Wrexham Council Events Manager, Amanda Davies, said: “Each July, it continues to attract a great mix of the local community and visitors from other parts of Wales and the UK who make a weekend of it in the area.

“The event primarily draws people to it because of the spectacle of seeing the magnificent Pontcysyllte Aqueduct lit-up and the huge firework display staged at the end of the evening.

“Our thanks go to managers at WCBC for supporting the events team to stage this each summer, the local community in Trevor, Garth & Fron, the Canal & River Trust and our suppliers including Festival Fireworks amongst others.

“We must also thank Acrefair FC for hiring us their pitch too, Cynergy Security and Amberon Traffic Management.”

There was also good news for local music festival organisers, FOCUS Wales, who won the award for Best use of Digital for their new app which launched to coincide with this year’s events.