Torre Abbey’s popular Christmas gift and craft fair is returning to the stunning setting of the Spanish Barn at Torre Abbey on Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 November.

Stalls will be selling a unique array of handmade local items that you won’t find on the high street. Items on sale include Christmas decorations, toys, jewellery, knitted and crochet gifts, craft kits and a range of wooden objects made by a local wood turner. You will also be able to meet alpacas from a local farm and buy related products. Expect Christmas tunes, festive decorations, and mulled wine on sale. 

Entry to Winter Fest includes free entry to the main house, where visitors can enjoy a Christmas Around the World exhibition and Festive Garden Trail. The exhibition explores some of the quirky and fun ways people around the world celebrate Christmas. Children can get creative and enjoy several free art activities.

Father and Mother Christmas will also be at Torre Abbey over the Winter Fest weekend and families can now book for an exclusive ‘meet and greet.’ Each family will have exclusive time with Father and Mother Christmas and children will receive a special Christmas gift.

Torre Abbey’s café and gift shop is open Tuesday to Sunday between 10am and 5pm, selling a selection of festive treats, unusual and locally sourced presents, as well as toys, gardening accessories, confectionary, cards, books, and artwork. Annual 1196 Club memberships are on sale with memberships starting at £18. The café is open 7-days a week from 9.30am until 4.30pm.  

A whole host of other events are taking place at Torre Abbey in the lead up to Christmas, including Wreath Making Workshops using greenery sustainably sourced from the Torre Abbey gardens. There is also a Christmas ornament making course where you can learn how to make beautiful and delicate hanging decorations – perfect for a gift or for hanging on your tree.

Boo to a Goose theatre will be visiting to present Once Upon a Christmas, an interactive and multi-sensory performance for children aged 2-8 years and their families. Sat by the festive fireside, a merry elderly couple, with help from some cheeky elves and The Gingerbread Man, share their memories and stories and, with scents of Christmas spices triggering the senses. They invite the audience to help make paper chain decorations whilst singing along to familiar old songs, but how do this jolly old couple know so much about the most wonderful time of the year?

The Bay of Lights Illumination Trail also starts at Torre Abbey, which is a magical 1.5-mile light trail taking you along the seafront and into the town centre. The Torre Abbey Café will be open until 6pm on Fridays and Saturdays to buy a hot drink to enjoy along the route.

Cllr Mike Morey, Cabinet Member for Infrastructure, Environment and Culture for Torbay Council, said; “The Spanish Barn makes such a magnificent setting for Winter Fest, a unique gift, and craft fair, packed with hand-made and locally sourced products. Meanwhile, Torre Abbey itself always has a packed programme of events in the lead up to Christmas and I do encourage you to support them if you are able to.”

For more information and to buy tickets for any of the Torre Abbey Christmas events, visit www.torre-abbey.org.uk