Burnham-On-Sea’s annual Christmas tree festival has opened this weekend, with over 30 sparkling trees on display for a fortnight.
St Andrew’s Church is holding the popular festival, which is open to the public for the next two weeks.
Local businesses and groups from across Burnham-On-Sea and Highbridge have set up and decorated the trees with unique items relevant to the sponsor.
Among the trees is one from Home Hardware with tools hidden in the branches, while Burnham Horticultural Society’s tree features sprouts and seed packets as decorations!
The Baytree Building tree has a yellow safety hat in place of a star on top, while the BARB Search & Rescue tree features several mini hovercrafts.
A tree from the Burnham Food and Drink Festival has chillis among its foliage, while one from hairdresser Mike Lowe features hair clippers.
There’s also an entry from the team at Burnham-On-Sea.com, complete with a hidden camera and computer mouse.
Organiser Richard Allen said: “The 31 trees look wonderful – we have our biggest-ever selection this year thanks to a number of additional businesses and groups joining in. It’s great to see the community coming together like this at this special time of year.”
The trees were illuminated for the first time on Saturday evening (December 13th) when a dedication service was held. They are now on show to the public from 10am-4pm each weekday until the Saturday after Christmas.
Entry is free, but charity donations are welcome. The church has also created a life-size crib scene with donations going to The Children’s Society.
The trees have been provided by Crafty Teacup, Kyffins, Burnham Funeral Services, The Star Prayer Tree, Town Council and Princess Theatre, Burnham Rotary Club, St Andrew’s Church Choir, Mike Lowe, Positive Wealth Creation, Food Festival, Material Needs, Home Hardware, Burnham Infants School, Burnham Brownies and Gemini Tae Kwon-Do.
There are also trees by Ritz Acoustic Club, Baytree Building, The Toy Cupboard, Somewhere House, Scott’s Furnishing, Round Tower Guesthouse, Baytree Upholstery, Burnham Horticultural Society, BARB Search & Rescue, The Ritz Cinema, St Andrew’s School, St Andrew’s Youth, Burnham-On-Sea.com, Highbridge Friends of Childrens Hospice South West, Co-Operative Funeral Care and St Andrew’s Parish Church.
The team from Somewhere House were also selling resfreshments at Saturday’s event to raise funds. A baking competition was also held on Friday leading up to the opening of the tree festival.
