Hundreds of families in the festive spirit descended onto Drumlanrig Castle on Friday (1 Dec) and Saturday (2 Dec) to kick off the Christmas season in style and enjoy the Castle’s sparkling Christmas Fair.
The weekend of events was launched by Primary Four pupil, Islay Mackay who attends Wallace Hall Academy, who won the great honour of switching on the Castle’s Christmas lights for 2017, creating a rather majestic backdrop for the Fair’s festivities as the whole Castle illuminated green and red.
Visitors of all ages enjoyed more than 40 different festive, craft and food stalls and some of the younger attendees even had the opportunity meet Santa Claus in his special grotto to share their wishes for this year.
The Nithsdale Choir added a tuneful element to the proceedings with some carols on the Friday evening. And visitors on Saturday were entertained with a special appearance from Blackstone Clydesdales who provided horse rides around the Estate grounds.
The hot mugs of soup and delicious turkey and stuffing baguettes in the cosy Castle Tearoom which opened especially proved very welcome with the cold weather, as did the traditional warm mulled wine, hot chocolate and gingerbread or cinnamon lattes.
In addition a host of seasonal sprinters took part in a 5k Santa jog around the Estate on the Saturday which was quite a spectacle.
Anna Fergusson, Acting Estate Manager, said: “It really is a magical time of year and we were thrilled to pass the honour of switching on our Christmas lights to Islay Mackay who did a great job in kicking off our Christmas celebrations in style.
“Everyone really got into the festive spirit with our fantastic trade stalls, winter warmers in the tearoom and kids activities around the gardens.
We would like to thank all who attended, it was a great way to start December and the countdown to Christmas.”
Visit www.drumlanrigcastle.co.uk for further information or visit the Facebook page @DrumlanrigCastle.
