Christmas in Canterbury – Campaign Report
Christmas in Canterbury 2023 was a bumper year – from the inviting wooden huts of the seasonal market and 6 miles of twinkling festive lights to the Hornby Train trail and award-winning Panto. Canterbury BID was on hand to help with the celebrations and created a marketing campaign that received 22+ million impressions.
The full report is available to view by clicking the images below. Do take a minute to have a look at this whistlestop report of how we marketed Canterbury – with the help of key city businesses. It’s all part of our mission to keep Canterbury in the forefront of people’s minds at this key trading period.
Canterbury is a magical destination at Christmas.
The city was sparkling with beautiful lights adorning the streets and the ancient towers, and a whole host of fun-filled activities and experiences in store for visitors of all ages. This is why we created a 2023 Christmas Campaign Toolkit to help businesses and spread the word!
Christmas Lights
Canterbury were shining brightly this Christmas with the city centre being strewn with lights paid for by the businesses in the BID area and provided by Canterbury BID. Our Christmas Lights contractor, Gala Lights tests fixing points and installs the lights around the city. The Christmas lights are designed to complement and enhance this historic city. The lights were on 24/7 with the exceptions of the High Street, Rose Lane and Westgate Towers that are on from 3pm-3.30am. BID Ambassadors check the lights daily both in the morning and at 4pm.
6: miles of lights put up each year
8: timers installed on the High Street and Rose Lane (lights are on 3pm til 3.30am)
12: people to put up and take down the lights over 7 nights
17: switches along the parade route
100s: of permissions obtained by the BID team, allowing lights to be attached
5,000: in attendance (non-Covid year) at the annual switch-on event, enjoying themselves in our city
£66,000: is the annual cost for our Christmas decorations
118,000: LED lights twinkle above our city from
Canterbury’s Christmas Light Parade 2023
For those that missed it, don’t worry – we have this brilliant film so you can see what happened!
Christmas Window Competition 2023
Canterbury always looks particularly magical thanks to all your beautifully decorated Christmas windows. The 2024 Window Competition was no exception – read all about it HERE
“Conscious creativity, an elegant advent and a spot of the Grinch! Winners of Canterbury’s Christmas Window Competition announced.”
