Santa-stic
Date published: 08 November 2010
AN early visit from Father Christmas and his reindeer brought a touch of festive magic to a packed Oldham town centre on Saturday.
The grand old man was pulled around town in his holly-decked sleigh by two real-life reindeer, accompanied by three marching bands, the Sleeping Beauty and her prince from the Oldham Coliseum pantomime, stilt-walking candy canes, elves and horses, and Mother Christmas.
And the special guest was Sportacus, the superhero from TV’s Lazytown, complete with a special vintage car.
Oldham’s Youth Mayor Liam Turner also took part in the parade which wound its way along Clegg Street, High Street, Lord Street, Albion Street, Henshaw Street, and Market Place, as crowds six deep watched the colourful free spectacle.
Wide-eyed children waved to Father Christmas, who kicked off this year’s town centre Christmas festivities by opening his grotto in Spindles Town Square Shopping Centre, while his reindeer were petted and patted in front of the Market Hall in Albion Street.
There was entertainment on the streets and free give-aways, music from the Oldham Lees Band, Oldham Scottish Pipe Band and the Adamson Military Band from Tameside at the five-hour event, organised by Oldham Town Centre Partnership and Oldham Council.
Among those cheering loudest for Father Christmas was four -year-old Christ Church Primary School pupil James Bishop from Chadderton, with his aunt and uncle Lesley and Alan Morris.
James said: “I’ve not seen reindeer before but I’ve seen Father Christmas before, last year. I thought they were great.”
Lesley added: “It was a lovely parade, so colourful, and the three bands were wonderful.”
Five-year-old McKenzie West, from Oldham, who goes to Beever Primary added: “It was amazing. I saw the reindeer last year. I saw Father Christmas and he waved to me.”
His mum Gemma West added: “It puts you in a really festive mood. It is very positive and the bands were fantastic.”
Saturday’s annual Christmas parade proved to be a record-breaker with more people lining the route than ever before.
Mike Flanagan, Oldham Town Centre Partnership’s vice-chairman said: “Over five thousand people came into to the town centre for the parade. This event gets bigger and bigger each year and the combined presence of Santa, his real reindeers, TV superhero Sportacus and lots of colourful characters and local bands, really do bring the streets alive with seasonal cheer. It was a really great day and a great boost for businesses.”
Councillor Jackie Stanton, Deputy Leader of Oldham Council, said: “What a Christmas cracker Saturday was. Thousands of smiling faces, car parks full, streets packed with shoppers, hundreds of visitors from out of town – what more could we wish for. We have a fantastic team who work very hard to stage the town centre Christmas events and what a credit to Oldham they are. It was fantastic to see the whole town centre buzzing!”
Santa said: “I just love coming to Oldham and meeting all the children. They all tell me that they are looking forward to Christmas but I do remind them to keep well behaved! I’m going to be at my grotto in the Spindles from now until Christmas.”
