New Leeds festival celebrates small businesses

A new festival celebrating everything to do with Leeds will be launching this weekend to coincide with Small Business Saturday.

Winter WonderLeeds, Briggate Spectacular, organised by Leeds City Council, launches this Saturday 7 December and the Minister for Local Growth, Kris Hopkins MP will be opening the event.

The festival is also a key event in the first national Love Your Local Market Christmas campaign, which is designed to encourage people to use their local markets and make the most of the variety of affordable, fresh, innovative local goods on their doorstep through markets.

It is also part of the celebrations to show support for small businesses, including market traders, and the key role they play as part of a city’s retail and community offer.

Hosted on Briggate the event launches a 17 day festival which will open 7 days a week and will consist of a large marquee with 20 trading stalls, with a mix of around 80 traders changing daily, and an event space which will showcase the cream of Yorkshire entertainment for shoppers in the busy city centre.

The opening day will be hosted by the Lord Mayor of Leeds whose visit will include a speech on small businesses and their contribution to Leeds, as well as a presentation to three small independent businesses, to showcase their success stories. Guests will also enjoy performances from a school choir and local dance troupe.

Councillor Richard Lewis, Leeds City Council executive board member with responsibility for development and the economy said: “The 17-day festival is a great platform for all the independent businesses taking part to showcase what they have on offer to the tens of thousands of Christmas Shoppers who visit Briggate each day during the festive period.

“The combination of both a daily market and event space will offer something to visitors at a variety of times of the day and into the early evening so as to target a range of different audiences.”

The festival is part of Leeds City Council’s Winter WonderLeeds Christmas campaign which covers a whole host of festive events across the city including a number of other Christmas markets including – the German Christkindlmarkt on Millennium Square, Made in Yorkshire’s Christmas Festival Fayre on Victoria Gardens, and Christmas in Kirkgate Market and local markets in Leeds.