Have your say on what will replace Lincoln Christmas Market

RESIDENTS and businesses in the city are being invited to give their ideas on Lincoln’s new events programme. A challenge to City of Lincoln Council’s decision to cancel the Christmas Market was unsuccessful so the authority will focus on a new programme of events and activities. This will aim to support the vibrancy of the city centre and uphill area by providing an all-year-round cultural experience for visitors and residents that cements Lincoln as a key destination locally, regionally and nationally.

The city council wants to hear from residents and businesses in Lincoln about what events and activities they would like throughout the year.

Once the most popular ideas have been gathered, along with events and activities already curated by the council, a full programme will go to consultation in May before being launched in June, with key events and activities beginning from October, with a particular emphasis on Christmas in Lincoln. Through this programme, the city council will aim to replace the estimated £2million spend to local businesses and 320,000 visitors for the local economy from the Lincoln Christmas Market but more evenly spread over the whole year. It is anticipated that events and activities will remain predominantly free to enter/public space-based to enhance the existing visitor experience with larger scale impact events to attract new visitors from a wider area and encourage overnight stays.

Cllr Neil Murray, Portfolio Holder for Inclusive Economic Growth at City of Lincoln Council said: “Once finalised with thoughts from both residents and businesses incorporated, the new Lincoln Events Programme will be designed to spread visitor numbers to the city centre/uphill area throughout the year rather than within the condensed four-day period in December, which has been the case in previous years.

“Alongside a range of events throughout the year, we understand Christmas is important for many economically, and we are also exploring the extent to which the Christmas lights in the city centre can be refreshed and replaced on a rolling programme over the next few years to ultimately create a complete new display and extend to areas more recently re-developed within the city centre.

“We are excited to hear what ideas people in the city have and look forward to sharing a programme that celebrates the full six weeks of Christmas, together with a yearl-ong plan to maintain animation in the city centre/uphill area at other key times in the year.”

To submit your ideas for Lincoln’s new events programme visit https://tinyurl.com/yerchxt5

Deadline is April 25

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