Charities to Benefit from Winter Festival Advent Calendar

24 charities operating in the Inverness area are each to receive £100 from the first Winter Festival to be held in Inverness, through the introduction of a giant advent calendar, which will be projected on to the walls of the Inverness Museum and Art Gallery.

Those charities wishing to be considered for the windfall are being invited to register their interest on the new festival web site:  www.invernessfestivals.com, which is launched today (Monday). The deadline for entry is midnight on Saturday 15 November.

At the opening event of the festival – the Christmas Lights Switch On - being held on the evening of Thursday 20 November - the 24 lucky charities will be selected by children attending the ceremony, who will draw the names out of a hat. And each day from 1 December in the run up to Christmas Day the name of the charity to benefit from the £100 gift will be emblazoned on the walls of the Museum and Art Gallery.

Councillor Roy Pedersen, Chairman of the Winter Festival Working Group, said: “The Advent Calendar is being featured to celebrate the arrival of the first Inverness Winter Festival and to highlight the good work done by the hundreds of volunteers who give so generously to their communities.

“We expect a really good response to this exciting new idea and wish charities the best of luck with the lucky draw at our opening event when we switch on the Christmas lights.”

The Winter Festival Working Group is putting the finishing touches to its programme of attractions.

The Christmas Lights Switch On takes place at 7 pm on Thursday 20 November in front of the Town House.

Evanton-based company, Arts in Motion, will be using the Town House as a backdrop to give the public a special preview of some of the Winter Festival lights that will be appearing during the festival.  During the festival, they will be bringing to life some of the iconic buildings in the city centre.

St Andrew’s Weekend will culminate on Sunday 30 November with a concert at the city’s new event location  at the Northern Meeting Park Arena. Following a charity torchlight procession from Inverness Castle, via the Cathedral, to the arena the audience will be entertained by Bruce Macgregor and Friends at 7 pm and then the Red Hot Chilli Pipers at 8 pm.  The show will end with the first St Andrew’s Day Giant Strip the Willow.

The Highland Santa Run, a 5 km fun run, will be held on Sunday 7 December. Participants are encouraged to raise money for Wildhearts, a Scottish charity which aims to give people in the developing world a chance to work their way out of poverty.

Another major feature of the festival will be the Ness Islands Lights, which will see the popular local amenity illuminated between 15 December and 6 January.  A special treat for families will be on Saturday/Sunday 20/21 December, Santa will be bringing Rudolph and his Reindeer friends to Ness Islands.

At Falcon Square between 20 November and 24 December, activities are being held between 11 am and 2 pm to entertain the public and on certain days stars of Aladdin, the Christmas Pantomime at Eden Court, Inverness, will visit to join in the fun.

In the Victorian Market, from 6 December, the Model Railway Company will be introducing their popular model railway display.

The festival will end on Hogmanay with a party at the Northern Meeting Park Arena, and the organisers are pulling out all the stops to secure a big name act to headline the concert.