BEVERLEY Minster is gearing up for its first Christmas Tree Festival.
Running in conjunction with the Festival of Christmas, the Minster Christmas Tree Festival will be held next weekend, on December 9, 10 and 11.
Around 50 festive trees will be on show in the Minster, sponsored and decorated by both local and national businesses.
The official opening of the festival will take place at 10.30am on Friday, December 9.
Church Warden Peter Mounstephen said everyone at the Minster was looking forward to this inaugural event.
He said: “The take up has been far greater than we thought it was going to be. We thought we would get about 30 trees.”
“It’s going to be even bigger next year,” he added.
Throughout the weekend the Minster’s Shoppers’ Lunch team will be providing refreshments.
A children’s quiz trail will run throughout the weekend and on Saturday afternoon there will be a hand bell ringing demonstration, the Beverley Garland Dancers will perform at 2pm and at 3pm there will be a floral demonstration by Kevin Hara.
On the Saturday evening, December 10, a special concert will be held in the Minster at 7pm as part of the festival.
As well as carol singing, the concert will feature South Riding actress Anna Maxwell Martin giving seasonal readings and there will be music from the Barton Town Band.
Tickets for the concert, costing between £10 and £20, are available from the Parish Centre or Beverley Tourist Information.
A closing service for the festival will be held on the evening of Sunday December 11.
The idea for the festival came about when Mr Mounstephen and his wife visited a church in Devon, which put on a similar event.
At the Minster festival there will be a competition for the Best Dressed Tree, which will be judged by visitors to the festival.
Mr Mounstephen said: “We’re absolutely looking forward to it. We’ve been planning it for over a year. We’ve got a wonderful group of volunteers at the Minster who always give fantastic support for these things.”
Admission to the Minster Christmas Tree Festival is by way of purchasing a £2 programme.
All funds raised will go to Minster Funds. Beverley Minster is open daily from 8.30am to 4.30pm.