Santa saves the day on his sleigh
The annual Brodick Christmas party held in the village hall last Sunday was one of the biggest in living memory with nearly 100 children joining in in the festive fun and games.
Parties have been taking place across the island, including Whiting Bay, which was held the previous day and more are being staged this weekend.
The Brodick party is a community-funded event run by volunteers and is open to all children from babies to primary five age.
A huge raffle, with donated prizes and proceeds from the ticket sales funding the following year’s party, saw a large number of tickets being bought by the adults who brought their children to attend the event, which was held during the afternoon on Sunday.
For the children, it was an afternoon of fun, games, craft tables, cookie decorating and dancing to Christmas music. Children also enjoyed a festive feast with snacks and the highlight of the day, a visit from Santa who had a gift for every child in the village.
Sitting in a long line and on their best behaviour, the children waited for their names to be called out to go up and collect their gift from Santa. For many of the children it was exciting and wondrous but for some the sight of Santa brought tears and they clung to their parents who collected the gifts on their behalf.
Santa had been busy handing out gifts at Whiting Bay village hall the night before making a dramatic entrance at 5pm in a packed and expectant hall after he had been summoned by a rousing rendition of Jingle Bells. Earlier games and party food had kept the children and the grown-ups happy during an afternoon of festive fun.