Thousands turn out for Llanelli Christmas carnival

Thousands turn out for Llanelli Christmas carnival

AROUND 20,000 people came out onto the streets to enjoy all the fun of Llanelli Christmas Carnival on Friday.

Families of all ages packed out the town centre as the annual event kicked off the Christmas festivities in Llanelli with a colourful parade, live music, Santa’s Grotto, funfair, market stalls, firework display and the all-important lights switch-on.

Traders said it was their most successful carnival night in recent years, with visitors taking the opportunity to snap up early gifts, and people were still enjoying the funfair until 10pm.

Earlier in the evening, the Christmas lights were switched on by civic dignitaries and school girls Evelyn Howells and Seren Haf Rees who won a competition to design new Christmas light decorations for the town.

The parade rolled in shortly afterwards with 17 floats flanked by emergency vehicles, Santa on his sleigh and a throng of tractors driven by festive characters.

A firework display lit up the skies over the town hall before crowds packed out the funfair and finished their evening with food and drink from street traders and town centre restaurants and pubs.

The carnival was organised by Carmarthenshire County Council, Llanelli Round Table, and Llanelli rural and town councils, with support from Dŵr Cymru, the Showman’s Guild,

Carmarthenshire Radio, Catsta entertainment and emergency services.

Cllr Peter Hughes Griffiths, executive board member for culture, sport and tourism, said: “The Llanelli Christmas Carnival is the highlight of the year for thousands of families from the town and for those who travel from beyond to enjoy the spectacular parade.

“Once again, it was a successful evening with lots of happy, smiling faces throughout the town centre, and traders have told us they’ve had one of their most successful carnival nights.

“Lots of people work hard to put an event of this scale on, and for it to go without a hitch is testament to the months of planning involved. A big well done to everyone.”

VIDEO

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<a href="<a href="https://vimeo.com/243622583“><a href="https://vimeo.com/243622583″>https://vimeo.com/243622583”>Carnifal Nadolig Llanelli Christmas Carnival – 2017 from <a href="https://vimeo.com/carmarthenshirecc“>Cyngor Sir Gâr | Carms Council on Vimeo.

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