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Worcester welcomed a special visitor from the Arctic on Saturday as part of the city centre’s street entertainment programme. Hundreds of visitors flocked to CrownGate Shopping Centre to meet Bjorn, the animatronic polar bear and were impressed with the real life likeness of the bear, its authentic movements and wealth of information about the animal.
The experience was brought to the city centre by Worcester Business Improvement District (BID) on behalf of Worcester City Council, who are coordinating a whole series of festive entertainment on late night shopping Thursdays and Saturdays in the weeks running up to Christmas.
Nadja von Dahlen, Worcester BID Marketing and Events Manager said “Bjorn the polar bear has proven to be a great hit with Christmas shoppers. It was the first time we brought such an act to Worcester and visitors of all ages were fascinated by the polar bear experience. It’s all about making the Christmas shopping experience a truly memorable treat and we have plenty more exciting entertainment coming up to make visitors want to return to Worcester to shop, eat and play”.
Traditional chimney sweeps brought a smile to shoppers’ faces throughout the city centre and helped to ensure businesses looked their best for the festive season. Visitors also enjoyed having their fun photos taken with seasonal props at the free ‘Christmas in Worcester’ photo booth in The Shambles. The free photo booth will return to the city from 10am to 5pm on Saturday 5th December at The Hive, on Saturday 12th December at Reindeer Court and on Saturday 19th December at CrownGate.
The entertainment programme also features a variety live music, including traditional carol singing and acoustic sessions, on Thursdays and Saturdays at the CrownGate Performance Corner (Food Quarter), Reindeer Court, High Street and other city centre locations.
Sara Matthews, CrownGate Shopping Centre Marketing Manager said “We hope that the Performance Corner entertainment will encourage shoppers to stay for longer and create an enhanced atmosphere in an already bustling area of the centre. If it proves to be a popular feature, we would look to repeat the concept throughout the year. It’s a great platform for local performers to showcase their talents in a very busy area of Worcester”.
On Thursday last week, the first late night shopping Thursday, footfall counters showed a 7% increase compared to the same night last year and a 39% increase compared to the same night the week before, based on footfall between 5pm and 9pm.
Saturday also saw the second busiest ever usage of the RingGo scheme since launching over 5 years ago. 668 people chose to use the paying to park by mobile phone scheme, which also allows users to extend their stay conveniently without having to return to their cars whilst out and about enjoying their stay in Worcester.
Forthcoming entertainment highlights include real reindeer at Reindeer Court’s new Winter Festival on Saturday 5th December, a penguin family and magical LED dancers on Saturday 12th December and a giant snow globe with acrobats on Saturday 19th December.
Visitors can also take advantage of special parking offers on Thursdays and Sundays when planning their visit to Worcester this Christmas. For further parking offer and entertainment details explore www.christmasinworcester.com or visit #ChristmasInWorcester on social media.
