PICTURES: Clare Christmas Fair attracts biggest ever crowds

Clare staged its biggest Christmas fair on Friday and Saturday, attracting scores of visitors with its mouth-watering festive food, plentiful gift ideas and craft stalls, topped off by the official switching on of the town’s Christmas lights.

This year, organisers took bookings from 47 stallholders and expanded the fair to The Cock Inn, as well as St Peter and St Paul’s Church and Clare Community Centre.

On Saturday, the lights were switched on by four-year-old Indie-Rose Clarry, from Clare, who was introduced by Deputy Lieutenant of Suffolk Mark Pendlington.

Fair organiser Christine Glover said: “People said there was a bigger crowd on Market Hill this year for the switch-on than ever before.

“The town council took over the switch-on this time, and it was very well attended.”

The event included a children’s parade, fairground rides, street entertainment, carols, morris dancing and music from The Salvation Army – not forgetting a special appearance by Father Christmas.

The Cock Inn also held a beer festival and barbecue.

Mrs Glover said the proceeds from the Christmas Fair had yet to be counted, but they will exceed last year’s total. All of the money goes into funding Clare’s parish church.

She added: “The fair went extremely well and we were absolutely delighted with it. It is our most profitable event for church funds.

“We try to make it as atmospheric as possible and people seem to love it. A lot of hard work goes into making it a really nice event for everyone.”

She said that plans were already taking shape to make next year’s fair a big winter festival, with the switch-on of the town’s lights incorporated into the fair, rather than being a separate event.

The fair ran on Friday night from 5pm to 8pm, and resumed again on Saturday, from 10am until 7pm, with the Christmas lights turned on at 6pm.