Enjoy a Dickens of a festival at St Annes Victorian Festival

Organisers have promised that the event, which was badly hit by heavy rain on its debut 12 months ago, will be bigger, better and certainly drier this year, as St Annes Palace has been lined up as an indoor venue and will feature a Victorian Christmas craft fair.

The event takes place over the weekend of December 3 and 4 and, like last year, traders plan to dress in period costume. Ccarol singers, dance displays, fairground rides in Ashton Gardens and Father Christmas are set to feature.

Organisers also hope to display some Victorian artefacts and are looking for contributions – and there is still time for traders who are not yet involved to find out more.

“It rained really heavily last year but the event was still a success, with many traders showing a lot of imagination, and we aim to build on that,” said organisers’ spokesman Heather Cross, of the Vanilla cafe in Park Road.

“It is great to have The Palace as a new venue for this year and the craft fair will provide some insurance against the rain as well as being an exciting new feature. We have lots planned over both days.”

Heather can be contacted on 07931 974902.