Spectacular Christmas trees will light up Stowmarket again this year with around 30,000 people expected to visit the town to see them.
The Stowmarket Christmas Tree Festival is now in its 13th year and hundreds of trees will be located in Stowmarket Parish Church, Abbots Hall in the Museum of East Anglian Life and the town library.
Illuminated trees, provided by the town council, will also line the town’s lamp posts in one of the region’s largest winter attractions.
The festival runs from Saturday, November 25, to Saturday, January 6, with visitors expected from around the world to view the festive trees.
The festival began in 2005, with 80 Christmas trees scattered around St Peter and St Mary’s Church, and since then the popular event has grown year by year.
Decorators from schools, groups, charities and organisations in the town are told by organisers to be creative and previously, visitors have found an optical illusion tree, and one made from 600 buttons.
A spokesman for the festival said: “People might have heard about Stowmarket Christmas Tree Festival and seen the photographs but nothing compares to the experience of visiting and seeing the Christmas trees for yourself.
“In daylight they look bright and colourful, at dusk when the sun is going down they look stunning – and when it is dark it is like being in a warm and welcoming magical kingdom.”
The one-way route around the church includes a stopping-off point to relax and have a mince pie and to savour the Christmas atmosphere.
A special moment for many at the church is writing a prayer or the names of loved ones who have passed away, and hanging them on a dedicated tree.
At Abbots Hall, in the award-winning Museum of East Anglian Life, trees will have a golden theme as they celebrate 50 years of being open to the public.
Stowmarket Library is a new venue for the festival this year and there will be some lovely creative surprises hidden throughout the building.
For those inspired by the event, the library will be collecting poems and creative writings to feature in a dedicated book to be published for next year’s festival.
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