THE 20th Yuletide Festival has been declared a success in the run-up to Christmas.

Celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, town centre manager Brett Butler said the Yuletide Festival, which was held on the first two Sundays in December, was a great success.

He said: "Yuletide is always about making people feel as festive as possible."

And this year the festival featured a Frozen theme (from the popular children's film) and had a guest appearance by Monty the penguin, from the John Lewis advert, which has been a hit this year.

"We've got to keep it fresh," said Mr Butler, who pointed that the success of the festival is not only about visistors but also local residents. "We want the 15,000 people who live in Skipton to come too. It's about loyalty because they are the ones who will be spending money year in, year out."

During the first weekend of the Yuletide, Mr Butler said that 100 coaches had been booked in. On the second Sunday, 80 coaches were booked in but he said another dozen turned up on the day.

"Many of the market stalls did bettter on the second Sunday and the weather was pretty bad," he said.

Mr Butler said that since he started in his role as town centre manager the number of coaches had nearly doubled, going from 50 on each Sunday to nearly 100.

A popular attraction this year was the festive new Christmas lights displayed around Skipton.

"It's a brand new scheme of lights and we've had people tell us it's the best display they've seen in the country," said Mr Butler. "International visitors have also been saying how wonderful the lights are."

He said the town usually spends around £30,000 a year on its Christmas lights, which he said is significantly less than places like Southport, which he said can spend around £200,000 for its lights.

"We've had so many comments about the lights, especially the ceiling of lights overhead on Sheep Street ," said Mr Butler. "These lights are easier on the eye, easy to see and make you feel more festive."

Mr Butler said the Yuletide Festival is jointly funded by Skipton Town Council and the Skipton Town Partnership, but money also comes from the fees market traders pay and other sponsors.

"It's non-profit making, so every sing penny made goes back into the event year on year," said Mr Butler. "But we do try to make sure it beaks even."

Mr Butler did say that for next year's festival organisers would like to create a programme of events listings for visitors.

"We'd like to pull together everything that happening in Skipton during November and December," he said. "This Skipton at Christmas would feature events happening in places like the town hall, theatres, galleries and public houses."