Thousands gather for start of County Carlow – A Festive Family Experience.
Carlow comes out in force to start month long of Festive Family Fun for all.
Thousands of excited voices of children could be heard cheering on Santa Claus as he joined Mayor Cllr. Andrea Dalton to switch on the Christmas Lights for 2019 this weekend (23rd November 2019) which kick started a month of Festive Family Fun across the County.
The festivities kicked off at 1.00pm with young people from Carlow Regional Youth Services, Vault Project who decorated the stage and then performed to the growing crowd with a selection of individual and group musical acts. They were joined by Carlow College of Music whose choir performed a variety of magical Christmas numbers.
When darkness fell, the Eist Candlelight walk of Hope supported by Bank of Ireland lead by the Carlow Pipe Band , Santa and Wibbly Wobbly Wendy joined the thousands gathered for the main event around the Liberty Tree.
Wibbly Wobbly Wendy started the countdown to the big switch on and Santa , Mayor Cllr. Andrea Dalton joined by other elected members were greeted with rapturous applause as they turned on the Christmas lights.
The Mayor thanked all involved in the event including Pat Harrington and the team in Carlow Municipal District Area Office in Carlow County Council , Pierce Kavanagh & Helen Ryan , Economic Development Officers from the Local Enterprise Office in Carlow County Council, Gardaí, Carlow Civil Defence , the Eist organizing committee, Carlow Regional Youth Services , Carlow Pipe Band , Bank of Ireland , local companies Premier Sound & Lights ,SB Electrical & Karl Mc Donough & all the volunteers who helped to make the event happen. The Mayor in particular paid tribute to Mary Symth of Eist who passed away recently and her dedication to the Eist service in County Carlow.
Speaking during the event Mayor Dalton said she “encouraged everybody to shop local this year as local businesspeople make a special effort to provide a full range of good and services for the festive season” , the Mayor continued to say, “spending locally supports local jobs , which in turn supports local communities to become vibrant”.
Prior to Santa’s departure he “thanked the children of County Carlow for coming out to help him put on the Carlow Town Christmas lights and encouraged them to send their letter soon on this special post box on Dublin Street” , Santa said “he encouraged the kids of Carlow to be really good in the run up to Christmas and he looked forward to returning to Carlow on Christmas Eve”.
Speaking about the Festive Family Experience , Kieran Comerford , Head of Enterprise with Carlow County Councils Local Enterprise Office said “Carlow has really pulled out all the stops for this year for the festive period with a wide variety of activities from now until 24th December” , Comerford continued to say “we are delighted to see so many people to come out and support this event and we hope that people will continue to show support for all events , activities and retail experiences across the county”.
Further information on the County Carlow - A Festive Family Experience check out https://www.facebook.com/CarlowChristmas/ or pick up a copy of the full programme in various outlets across the County.
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For further information contact Kieran Comerford on 086/8252037 or e-mail: kcomerford@carlowcoco.ie
