1 December 2017, Friday
By Mary Bermingham
mary@TheCork.ie
GLOW, A Cork Christmas Celebration on the Grand Parade opens in Cork this Friday December 1st
The Glow, A Cork Christmas Celebration at Bishop Lucey Park in Cork City. The festival has something for everyone from a 30m Ferris Wheel with panoramic views over Cork City, to a vintage carousel, a range of food and crafts markets, and live entertainment.
Picture: Miki Barlok
Experience the festive season on the Grand Parade in Cork as the much-loved festival GLOW, A Cork Christmas Celebration opens this Friday December 1st. Attended by over 160,000 people in 2016, GLOW will run every weekend in the build up to Christmas, and also Christmas week from 20 to Friday 22 December.
Presented by Cork City Council, GLOW sees Bishop Lucey Park magically transformed into a winter wonderland by Cork’s own Dowtcha Puppets. The theme this year is Santa’s Cork Workshop.
Visitors will see the preparations underway for the big day – the elves are busy sorting, testing and wrapping the presents, the sleigh up on blocks getting ready for the big trip and the reindeer in the back field having some final training.
The sacks of presents are being lined up, children are posting their letters and you can catch a glimpse of Santa waving down from his balcony.
Dowtcha are bringing their puppets and performers to the people this year, and visitors, both young and young at heart, will have magical meetings with hard working (and sometimes confused) elves as they try to get presents FOR EVERYBODY ready in time!
This lit-up trail features ten superbly costumed performers, six elf puppets, two reindeer puppets and a giant Santa, all set to fantastic original Christmas themed traditional music commissioned by Edel O’Sullivan.
Recent photo of Cork City Lord Mayor Tony FItzgerald (FF)
Picture: Jim Coughlan.
The Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr Tony Fitzgerald said
“Cork is really a special place, and this Christmas and we encourage everyone to come into the city to experience the wonder of GLOW, and to shop locally. With fantastic Christmas food markets, choral performances, a 30-meter Ferris Wheel and Santa’s Cork Workshop in Bishop Lucey Park, there is so much to see and do this year at GLOW, Cork’s Christmas Festival.”
GLOW will take place on the following dates:
- Friday December 1st to Sunday December 3rd
- Friday December 8th- Sunday December 10th
- Friday December 15th- Sunday December 17th
- Wednesday December 20th- Friday December 22th
Bishop Lucey Park will be open on these days from 4.30pm to 8.30pm and the Christmas Food Markets on the Grand Parade will be open from 12noon to 8.30pm. The Ferris Wheel will be open each day from 12noon to 9pm. See www.glowcork.ie for full details.
The opening of GLOW today, with the Switch On of the Christmas Lights kick start the city’s seasonal celebrations, and with them a promotional drive by Cork City Council and the Cork Business Association to encourage people to come into the city centre and to shop locally in the lead-up to Christmas.
