PICTURES: Christmas spirit in full force at Nairn's festive event organised by the BID company– against all odds going ahead in spite of Storm Arwen – and giving folks a great day out to remember
Christmas and community spirit was in full force for a town’s festive event at the weekend despite Storm Arwen doing its best to halt proceedings.
Nairn High Street came alive to the sound of Christmas songs, pipes and drummers, street theatre, clowns and stilt walkers whilst shoppers enjoyed the town’s many independent boutiques, cafes,
and restaurants.
Santa even made an appearance and led a parade to The Links where a fireworks display rounded off the day’s activities.
The event, part funded by the Scottish Government in partnership with EventScotland, was organised by Nairn BID who earlier in the day had to make the difficult decision to cancel the
planned Farmers’ Market part of the event.
Nairn BID manager Lucy Harding said: “It was a tough day with our event not escaping the grip of Storm Arwen, but Nairn still put on a good show and the town centre was bustling with families
enjoying the full line up of entertainment.
"We had to make some changes, including moving Santa’s Grotto into Nairn Library and we thank the staff there for allowing us to find a cosy corner so Santa could still meet Nairn’s children.”
She added: “The last thing we wanted to do was cancel any part of the event, but after consulting with the whole team, it simply wasn’t safe.
"We had been monitoring the forecast very closely and working in partnership with other agencies in the lead up to the event. The weather had been set to get better, however, it didn’t do what was predicted and whilst the team putting up the stalls for the farmers’ market tried for a number of hours to erect the steel frames and tarpaulins, we decided it wasn’t safe to continue with this part of the event.
“It was extremely disappointing for everyone, but we were able to go ahead with other parts of the event. The fireworks, which were funded by the Nairn West and Suburban Community Council,
rounded off what in the end was a successful event for the town.”
