THOUSANDS of people are expected to flock to Skipton this weekend for the first of two special Christmas shopping events.

The 22nd Skipton Christmas Market - listed amongst the top ten festive markets in the world - will take place on the closed High Street over the next two Sundays.

Visitors - from far and wide - will be able to snap up a bargain from the town's market, which will also include festive fundraising by homegrown community groups, while being entertained by street acts including Granny Turismo's.

Children will be able to drop in on Santa's Grotto, get up close to real reindeers, and the Sundays will end with a torchlight procession through the town to Holy Trinity Church for carols in the churchyard.

Originally started by the Skipton Chamber of Trade, it has been organised for the last eight years by Skipton Town Council with the backing of Skipton Business Improvement District (BID).

"This is a really important event for both the market and other retailers across the town centre," said Dave Parker, chief officer of the town council.

"It also gives us another chance to showcase Skipton to visitors from around the country, many of who will visit again at other times of the year”.

Mr Parker said council staff had been promoting the town heavily this year at travel and tourism events with the 'Visit Skipton' brand.

"It is good to be able to report that we have well over a hundred coach operators attending the event this year. We even have a special charter train bringing people from Sheffield, Huddersfield and towns on the Penistone Line.”

“I’d like to offer our thanks, once again, to the Skipton BID who provide funding towards both the event itself and the industry promotional and marketing event at the NEC in Birmingham.”

The event will start on both Sundays at 10am to 4pm. The High Street will be closed on both days, and there will be diversions around the town centre. There will be no parking on the High Street setts overnight on Saturday. For more details of the event, visit the Skipton Christmas Market Facebook page.

Skipton’s Christmas Market is listed amongst the top ten markets in the world according to christmasmarkets.com