About 75 Christmas trees decorated by community groups, schools and businesses have gone on display in Knaresborough.

The Knaresborough Christmas Tree festival is believed to be a unique event in the north of England for the way it showcases so many festive trees in a church.

Held at St John the Baptist Church in Knaresborough, which dates back to the Norman period, this is the festival’s 10th year.

It got underway at a preview event last night that included singing by female choir The Songbirds, mulled wine and minced pies.

Each tree is decorated individually, usually reflecting each organisation’s purpose. For instance, running club Knaresborough Striders’ tree is decorated with running shoes.

Brian Robinson, the artistic director of the festival, curates the exhibition by deciding how to display the trees to best effect.

The festival lasts until December 23. Admission is free from 10am to 5pm on Saturdays. noon to 4pm on Sundays and 12 to 5pm on Mondays to Fridays.

The trees will remain in place after December 23 for Christmas services at the church, including the Nine Lessons and Carols Service on Christmas Eve.

The church, whose director of music is town crier Mark Hunter, hosts music throughout the festival, including an Advent carol service tomorrow (Sunday) at 5pm.

The Stray Ferret attended last night’s preview event. Here are some photos.

A previous version of the article incorrectly stated singing was provided by the Northern Songbirds when it was in fact The Songbirds.

Read more:

• Knaresborough set for Christmas Market Weekend
• Council silent on claims it ignored safety warnings on collapsed Knaresborough wall
• Knaresborough Heritage Centre to open next year

Each tree is individually decorated.

Knaresborough train station’s impressive entry.

Artistic director Brian Robinson

Town crier Mark Hunter, who is also director of music at the church, with his consort.

The festival runs until December 23.

Brian Robinson displays the trees to best effect.

A festive forest will be sprouting in the church aisles next month, when the Great Knaresborough Christmas Tree Festival returns. 

More than 70 decorated trees will be on display in St John’s Church in the centre of Knaresborough from Saturday, December 2 to Saturday 23, all entered by individuals, businesses, educational establishments and community organisations.

The Christmas Tree Festival has run every year since 2014, and thousands of visitors come to view the trees each year. 

Admission to the church to view the trees and other displays is free, but the various fundraising events and activities around the festival raise money for church funds and its nominated charities. Last year, the festival raised £3,000 for charity. 

Visitors can get a sneak peak of the trees before the rush at an official preview evening – complete with seasonal music and mulled wine – from 7pm on Friday, December 1; tickets cost £5. 

There will be live music on the first three Saturdays of the festival, with performances from around 20 local choirs, bands and musicians, and the Christmas Tree Festival Concert is on Sunday, December 10 at 7pm, will feature St John’s Choir and special guests The Paul Mirfin Band. 

The Great Knaresborough Christmas Tree Festival will be open from Monday to Friday at 12 noon to 5pm, on Saturdays from 10am to 5pm, and on Sundays from 12 noon to 4pm.

Read more:

• Frustration grows over ‘rubble on the road’ saga in Knaresborough
• Opening date for £17.5m Knaresborough leisure centre revealed
• Celebrations planned for 900th anniversary of Knaresborough Castle

Knaresborough’s Christmas Market Weekend will be held on December 2 and 3 in the town’s historic Market Place.

Almost 60 stalls will be selling seasonal goods and there will be hot roasted chestnuts and mulled wine as well as performances by local dancers, brass bands and choirs.

The town centre will be largely pedestrianised for the event, but a free park and ride is available all weekend from the GSPK car park (postcode HG5 8LF) on Manse Lane to Chapel Street, close to the market square. Buses will run from 8am to 5.30pm throughout the weekend.

As always, the market weekend will close at 4.30pm on the Sunday with a firework finale set against the backdrop of Knaresborough viaduct and Nidd Gorge.

The firework finale. Pic: Charlotte-Gale Photography

The Christmas Tree Festival. Pic: Peter Wilkinson

The Christmas Tree Festival at St John’s Parish Church will also take place that weekend.

Market chair Hazel Haas said this year’s market would be “even bigger” than last year’s event. She added:

“We are also keen that the market benefits the town as a whole. Members of our volunteer committee have been liaising with other local organisations and businesses to ensure that we are promoting the full range of festive events taking place in Knaresborough over the market weekend.

“We are also supporting Rotary, Lions, Hearing Dogs for Deaf People, Knaresborough ATC and Knaresborough Cricket Club, who are our charitable partners for this year.”

The Christmas market will feature almost 60 stalls. Pic: Charlotte Gale Photography

Committee member Charlotte Gale added:

“We have a fantastic range of local independent shops, galleries, cafes and restaurants in town, not just in the market square, but on the surrounding streets and High Street. We hope that visitors to the market will also take the time to explore everything which Knaresborough has to offer.”

The new Knaresborough banking hub, at the top of Kirkgate, has agreed to open its Post Office counter services during the Christmas Market. This will allow people to access cash over the counter from 9am to 5pm on both days.

Event co-sponsor 1858 Bar & Restaurant will hold an after-party following the firework finale.

Read more:

• Scope closes Knaresborough charity shop after 35 years
• Knaresborough High Street flats to house asylum seekers and homeless

Christmas is edging closer and there are plenty of festivities taking place over the next couple of weeks.

Among them are a growing number of churches hosting Christmas tree festivals around the Harrogate district.

If you fancy seeing some inspiring, creative decorations, check out our list below of some of the festivals taking place across the district. 

Know of another that’s not on our list? Email the details to us now.

St James’s Church Boroughbridge

Boroughbridge launched the district’s festivals last weekend with some spectacular efforts.

Visitors cast their votes and overwhelmingly selected Kirby Hill WI’s jam jar tree as their favourite (pictures below). The Post Office was in second place and Spar came third.

In the children’s competition, Boroughbridge Scouts came out on top, followed by Roecliffe Primary School and Boroughbridge Junior School Early Years.

The festival concluded with a carol service on Sunday.

St John’s Church, Knaresborough 

The St John’s Christmas Tree Festival returns for another year.  

The Knaresborough Christmas tree festival takes place every year: 70 Christmas trees are decorated by local groups and are displayed in the St John’s Church in the heart of Knaresborough.  

It started last weekend and is running up until the December 23.  

As well as the Christmas tree competition there is live music and festive mulled wine refreshments. 

There will be live music every Saturday of the festival:

• Saturday, December 10
• Saturday, December 17

Admission to the festival is free, but donations to the church and their chosen charity are welcomed.

The event takes place at Vicarage Lane, Knaresborough HG5 9AE. 

St John’s Church, Bilton 

The Christmas tree festival in Bilton got up and running last weekend and continues throughout the month.

It features 20 trees created by community groups, many themed by the teams behind them.

The church is open from 9am to 1pm, Monday to Thursday each week, for visitors to see the trees. They are also on show at services until the end of December.

Entry is free and everyone is welcome at the Bilton Lane church.

Read more:

• Stray Ferret Christmas Appeal: ‘It’s our privilege to care for each other’
• Stray Ferret Christmas Appeal: Ukrainian refugees relying on Resurrected Bites for food in Knaresborough

St Andrew’s Church, Blubberhouses 

Another Christmas tree festival with an amazing variety of trees, a creative and festive event for everyone. 

The festival is open this weekend, Saturday, December 10 and Sunday, December 11, from 11am to 4pm. 

On Sunday, The 4 – a musical quartet will be singing Christmas music and carols.  

There will also be wreaths and Christmas crafts for sale.  

Enjoy a festive atmosphere with mulled wine and refreshments.  

Admission to this event is free and it is taking place at Shepherd Hill Road, Blubberhouses, Otley, LS21 2NU.

Boroughbridge Christmas Tree Festival

St Peter’s Church, Harrogate

St Peter’s Church Christmas Tree Festival returns for its 18th year. 

The festival is running from December 10 to 17 and organisers hope to make this year “bigger and brighter than ever”. 

The opening times are 8am to 5.15pm. 

Charities, local schools, shops, and businesses have been invited to decorate a Christmas tree or wreath, decorations can either be Christmas themed or reflect their organisation.

This gives the decorators an opportunity to tell the community about their activities and achievements and brings the whole community together for some festive fun at the end of the year. 

Attendees will vote for their favourite Christmas tree, and the winner will be announced at their 9.30am service on December 18.  

The trees each have their own frame with details of who the tree is sponsored by and the name or theme of the tree. 

It takes place at St Peter’s Church, Cambridge Road, Harrogate HG1 1PB. 

Knaresborough was packed at the weekend for what is being hailed as the town’s busiest ever Christmas market.

A total of 68 stalls crammed into Market Place to greet customers from all over the country and beyond.

The attractions also included a Christmas tree festival at St John’s Church and a fireworks finale, provided by local firm Ferrensby Fireworks.

Hazel Haas, who chairs the Christmas market committee, estimated up to 10,000 people attended on Saturday and up to 6,000 people turned out yesterday. She said:

“It was amazing. I’ve never seen it so busy. Many people said it was the busiest ever. In fact some traders sold out of their entire weekend stock on the Saturday.”

Ms Haas attributed the success to the quality of stalls, which she said had gradually improved over the years, and to the fact that the event still offered a cheap weekend for people in tough times.

The Christmas tree festival, the fireworks and the park and ride were all free so visitors could soak up the atmosphere and explore the town without having to spend any money.

So many coaches attended that extra space was required to accommodate them and King James’s School agreed to help at late notice.

The Christmas market is a joint initiative between the Rotary Club of Knaresborough, the Lions Club of Knaresborough and Knaresborough Chamber of Trade and Commerce.

“We were thrilled with the support for the market again this year, as well as our fantastic local businesses. We had worked really hard to promote all the town has to offer in the lead up to the event and feedback so far has been great, with one business even reporting they’d had their best ever day.

“People travelled from far and wide and at one point we even had a queue of coaches waiting to drop off market visitors. I spoke to one couple who had travelled from Leicester having seen the town featured in the recent film ‘A Very Yorkshire Christmas’ and another man who was visiting from the Netherlands. The town felt so wonderfully festive and even the showers on Sunday did nothing to deter visitors.”

The festive season gets underway in Knaresborough this weekend with the Christmas Market and the launch of the Christmas Tree Festival.

Centred around the large Christmas tree in the town’s historic Market Place, the two-day shopping event, on Saturday and Sunday, December 3 and 4, will feature almost 60 stalls selling seasonal goods, decorations, cards, gifts and locally-sourced produce.

Hot roasted chestnuts, mulled wine and performances by local dancers, brass bands and choirs promise to add to the festive atmosphere.

Knaresborough Chamber of Trade and Commerce committee member Charlotte Gale said:

“We have a fantastic range of local independent shops, galleries, cafes and restaurants in town, not just in the market square, but on the surrounding streets and High Street.

“We hope that visitors to the market will also take the time to explore everything which Knaresborough has to offer. There is even a book signing at Castlegate Books with best selling local crime author Wes Markin from noon on Saturday.

“Knaresborough’s businesses always make such an effort to decorate their windows for Christmas, which gives a wonderful festive feeling in town on the market weekend.

“There are lots of events happening around the town too, including a shopping event at Knaresborough train station and the start of the stunning Christmas Tree Festival at St John’s Church, which features beautifully decorated trees from local businesses and organisations.”

The Christmas Market is organised by volunteers from Knaresborough Rotary, Knaresborough Chamber and Knaresborough Lions.

Free park and ride

The centre of Knaresborough will be largely pedestrianised for the event, but a free park and ride is available all weekend from the GSPK car park (postcode HG5 8LF) on Manse Lane to Chapel Street, close to the Market Square.

The weekend will close at 4.30pm on Sunday, December 4 with a firework finale, set against the dramatic backdrop of Knaresborough’s famous viaduct and the Nidd Gorge. This is best seen from any viewpoint which overlooks the river area.

Market chair Hazel Haas, of Knaresborough Rotary, said:

“We are keen that this year’s market benefits the town as a whole.

“Members of our volunteer committee have been liaising with other local organisations and businesses to ensure that we are promoting the full range of festive events taking place in Knaresborough over the market weekend, including the popular Christmas Tree Festival at St John’s Church.”

The Christmas Tree Festival at St John’s will run from Saturday December 3 until December 23.

Every year more than 70 Christmas trees decorated by local groups and businesses are displayed in the church on Vicarage Lane.

Read more:

• Guide to Christmas fairs and markets in the Harrogate district
• Time to sparkle: Your guide to Christmas lights switch-ons across the district

Admission is free, but there will be the opportunity to donate to the church and the event’s chosen charity for this year.

For more information on Knaresborough Christmas Market, including travel information, entertainment timings and events taking place throughout the town, click here.

Meanwhile, Harrogate’s Christmas Fayre kicked off today and tonight (Friday) sees the return of late night shopping in Pateley Bridge and Bewerley for the first time since 2019.

Shops will stay open until about 7.30pm to offer festive treats and community groups will operate stalls along the High Street.

Harrogate’s Christmas Fayre got underway today and next week sees Boroughbridge’s late night shopping and Christmas lights switch-on event on Wednesday (December 7).

Knaresborough is getting into the festive spirit despite restrictions this year, with groups joining forces to put events on safely.

Each year the town hosts a number of festive events to draw in thousands of visitors, but this year it has had to adapt.

Representatives from St John the Baptist Church, Knaresborough Rotary, Knaresborough Chamber of Trade and Knaresborough Town Council have put their heads together and come up with a plan.

To ensure all the town’s Christmas trees and decorations can be admired, a map has been designed to direct people to the 20 different trees around the trail.

The map means visitors who feel safer staying outdoors can still get into the festive spirit. Credit: Matthew Bourne.

The church’s annual Christmas tree festival is always a hit with visitors and tickets are selling fast for this year too. The group has limited the festival to only 40 trees to allow for social distancing, where previous years have seen up to 100 trees on display.

Visitors have to book online here prior to visiting. The festival will run from tomorrow, Saturday, December 12 to Wednesday, January 6, except on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day.

Reverend Garry Hinchcliffe, the rector at St John the Baptist, said:

“It’s become a real go-to event and we didn’t want people to miss out. After such a miserable year for so many, we wanted to show the light and hope of Christmas time.”

Read more:

• Knaresborough’s shops were excited to reopen after the second lockdown. 
• Church in Blubberhouses sets up a Christmas tree festival. 

The organisers have also got local schoolchildren involved by asking them to decorate Christmas stars to display in the windows.

Bill Taylor, treasurer of Knaresborough Chamber of Trade, said:

“We wanted to make sure we still offered something to the town, in line with restrictions. We hope this will encourage people to come and give a boost to the town.”

Contactless stickers have also been placed throughout the town so people can make donations safely. The money will go towards the church and Cancer Research UK.