Torbay Council has commissioned both local and national artists to create a wonderful series of festive activities to fill Torquay’s town centre with the sights and sounds of Christmas. The month long project, supported by the Coastal Communities Fund and sponsored by Ocean BMW, starts on Saturday 26 November.

Artists have placed creative installations in four locations in the town forming a festive trail: Harbourside, Fleetwalk and Union Square shopping centres and outside the town hall. The installations vary from an interactive chalk mural, which festive shoppers will be able to help complete, to a unique film. All the pieces are inspired in different ways by the traditional Christmas carol, ‘I saw three ships.’ Visitors to Torquay town centre will be encouraged to visit all four and enter a competition to win £50 in Love to Shop vouchers, which will be delivered in time for the January sales.

Elected Mayor Gordon Oliver said: “Thanks to Coastal Communities Funding and a key sponsor Ocean BMW, we are able to put on a number of different Christmas events in Torquay. These activities will complement other festivities planned for Paignton and Brixham and will provide a family friendly, festive atmosphere for shoppers in the lead up to Christmas.”

On Saturday 26 November, the town will also come alive with storytellers including the Far Flung Dance Company, who have devised a stunning promenade piece to be performed on the harbourside of Vaughan Parade. Storytellers will also be in Union Square and Fleetwalk, all performing their take on the carol in a fun and unique way. A Christmas market, with a variety of craft and gift stalls, will be open and continues every Thursday, Saturday and Sunday until the week before Christmas, when the market will be open every day.

Over the next month different events will be taking place every Saturday. These include free make-and-take craft workshops, a Christmas beach party, a silent disco and choirs battling to become South Devon’s Christmas Choir 2016.

More details, including plans for the remaining weeks, can be found at www.christmasbythesea.org.uk.

All activities are free.

Christmas by the Sea