Christmas Love and light sees city centre sparkling
BRISTOL is set to feel more festive than ever before this year with the unveiling of new Christmas lights in the city centre. Every year, Bristol City Centre BID, Redcliffe & Temple BID and Broadmead BID fund festive lighting across the city and this year they’ve expanded the scheme.
The festive season has well and truly begun in the city centre. Bristol Christmas Market is bringing shoppers to Broadmead to browse the many stalls and Propyard has opened its Winterland attraction for ice skating.
Elsewhere, Corn Street has been transformed into Bristol’s answer to London’s Carnaby Street with a love-themed light installation. There will be eight love lyrics dropped throughout the street – using energy-efficient lighting throughout the city centre.
The city centre is already lit up after dark with Christmas light installations on King Street and the Old City, Park Street and Queens Road. Park Street is once again illuminated with stunning festoon lighting, which was launched in 2021, and this has been extended into Queens Road this year.
The Love Bristol disco balls also return, bringing sparkle to the streets outside the Clayton Hotel, Mother’s Ruin, Mr Wolf’s, Four Wise Monkeys and the Queen Shilling. The lights returned to Bristol on Monday.
Redcliffe & Temple BID’s sparkling tree lights are also bringing a taste of Christmas to Victoria Street and Temple Gardens. In Broadmead, over-street Christmas lights have this year been joined by new canopies on Merchant Street North and South alongside sparkly tree lights on Union Street and The Horsefair.
Broadmead’s independent market, Festive Sundays Broadmead, will be returning for a Christmassy edition operated by Better Events. The local, ethical market will showcase the best of Christmas gifts, including wreaths, handmade crafts and decorations from Bristol and beyond on November 20 and December 4, 11 and 18. The BIDs have also launched a new edition of the Love Bristol Gift Card: the Love Bristol Night Out Gift Card, shining a light on the businesses that make the Bristol night-time economy so diverse. It features hotels, theatres, restaurants, clubs and bars throughout the city centre to make an ideal present for the city’s night owls this Christmas.
Vicky Lee, head of Bristol City Centre BID, said: “Whether you’re looking to treat your loved ones to sneakers, paint supplies, vintage clothes or a night out at one of Bristol’s best restaurants, the Love Bristol Gift Card has it all and is sure to delight when recipients find it in their stockings on Christmas morning. Our city has so much to offer and we’re thrilled that the most wonderful time of the year is here to see it sparkle even more than it usually does, through the festive lights and love lyrics that have appeared throughout the city.”
The Love Bristol Gift Card features more than 130 businesses and is pitched as a great way to support the local community during the festive season. Local businesses can also join the scheme to be included.