Boston's 2024 Christmas Festival delights thousands with festive magic

Boston has once again outdone itself with the resounding success of this year's three-day Christmas Festival, which ran from Friday 29 November to Sunday 1 December, transforming the town into a winter wonderland and attracting thousands of residents and visitors.

One of the standout features of this year's festival was the introduction of a synthetic ice rink, a first for the event. Positioned in a prime location, it provided families and visitors of all ages with hours of fun and added an exciting new dimension to Boston's holiday celebrations. The rink quickly became a favourite attraction, with many praising it as a fantastic addition that brought even more festive cheer to the town.

The festival kicked off on Friday with the Mayor of Boston officially opening the Christmas Market, which featured an array of stalls offering unique gifts, delicious festive treats, and handcrafted goods. The bustling market brought a lively, magical atmosphere to the town centre.

Another highlight was the Christmas Tree Festival held in Boston Stump. The iconic church was beautifully adorned with a dazzling display of Christmas trees, each uniquely decorated by community groups, schools, and local organisations. The festival offered a serene yet inspiring experience, drawing many to marvel at the creativity and symbolism of the season.

Sunday saw the return of the popular Santa Fun Run, hosted by Endeavour FM, launched by the Mayor of Boston and a warm-up by V-Fitness, with hundreds of participants dressed as Santa dashing through the streets. The run raised funds for local charity, Lincs & Notts Air Ambulance and brought a festive energy to the town.

The festival also celebrated with a spectacular Illuminate Parade 'Folktales', organised by Transported Arts, which has become a centrepiece of Boston's Christmas celebrations. The breathtaking parade featured stunning lantern displays, creative community artwork, and glowing installations that lit up the streets. This year's parade, as always, embodied the spirit of unity and creativity, captivating audiences and leaving a lasting impression.

Cllr Anne Dorrian, Leader of Boston Borough Council, said: "The Boston Christmas Festival is a shining example of what can be achieved when our community comes together. I want to express my deepest gratitude to everyone involved — our dedicated organisers, partners, generous sponsors, hardworking volunteers, and incredible community groups — for making this year's event such a resounding success.

"To the residents and visitors of Boston, thank you for your unwavering support and for filling our town with festive joy and togetherness. This event truly highlights the strength, creativity, and spirit of our community.

"Wishing you all a very merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year!"

Cllr Dale Broughton, Portfolio Holder for Town Centre, including events, said: "I want to extend my heartfelt thanks to everyone involved in making this year's Boston Christmas Festival such a wonderful success.

"To all partners, businesses, traders, sponsors, community groups, and volunteers — your hard work and dedication have brought so much joy to Boston during this festive weekend.

"A special thank you to the people of Boston and all our visitors who joined in the celebrations. Your enthusiasm and community spirit truly make events like this so special.

"Wishing everyone a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year!"

Cllr Helen Staples, The Worshipful the Mayor of Boston, said: "As Mayor of Boston, it was an absolute honour to open this year's Boston Christmas Market on Friday and to kick off the Santa Fun Run on Sunday.

"The festive spirit and warmth of our community were truly inspiring throughout the entire weekend. I want to thank all the organisers, partners, sponsors, volunteers, and community groups who worked tirelessly to make this event so special.

"To everyone who attended and participated, from near and far, your energy and enthusiasm brought the Christmas magic to life.

"Wishing you all a joyful holiday season and looking forward to seeing you at future events that continue to showcase the very best of Boston!"

The Boston Christmas Festival continues to grow and evolve each year, with this year's events, including the synthetic ice rink, the Christmas Tree Festival, and the Illuminate Parade, setting a high standards for festive celebrations. Plans are already underway to build on this year's success, ensuring that Boston remains a premier destination for holiday cheer.

As the festivities draw to a close, Boston Borough Council has expressed pride in the community's efforts and wishes everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Residents and visitors took to social media, saying:

Wow what can I say about this weekend!

What an incredible event at BOSTON CHRISTMAS MARKET. Everything about it was amazing. Can't wait to see what next year brings!

Thanks to all the organisers including the lovely Helen, the amazing Darran who was there first and last thing every day setting up and dealing with anything and everything, The Waffle House for keeping us fed and watered (savoury waffles were amazing) and The Biz and all the performers for keeping us entertained all weekend.

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Boston is very much alive. It was fantastic to see so many of you enjoying the Christmas festival.

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Well what can I say. Boston you excelled once again tonight.

The town was absolutely buzzing with people of all ages and cultures all coming together to enjoy a brilliant Christmas event. So wonderful seeing so many happy faces and once again the illuminate parade wow.

Please share all your photos of tonight's event and spread the word, Boston does events for everyone and it's residents and businesses are the best.

Proud to be a Bostonian.

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Well done all involved great success

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What an amazing first night, one that Boston and her residents deserve. Congratulations

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It was a really enjoyable night. The lights and tree look brilliant, the music was great and it was lovely to see so many people in the town. Well done council.

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Brilliant night, well done all concerned

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It was my first-time taking part in building the lanterns and also taking part in the parade. It was a brilliant experience.  Well done to all

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Your parades just get better! Thank you so much for your time and effort.

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Another fabulous parade Transported!

It was so impressive and great to kick off Boston's Christmas light switch on and Festival weekend!

Well done to Boston Borough Council too- Awesome Community events! So great to see so many people out enjoying it all!

I took part as one of the Pegasus puppeteers this year... brilliant experience: thank you Bruce, Adele, Gemma, Diane and Hannah. Thanks, loved it. I was a samba drummer last year!

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It was brilliant participating.

Thanks to ALL the organisers

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Well an amazing weekend to bring in Christmas in Boston again this year it just gets better. The feedback I have had from so many people was that they had the best time and enjoyed it so much along with their families and friends so massive well done to Boston Borough Council and Everyone involved from the traders The Stump to the volunteers absolutely everyone not forgetting the sponsors. So Much Work has gone into making this year's light switch on amazing for everyone and it paid off to see all the happy faces.

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It was wonderful seeing families from all communities, enjoying the event.

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The people did the town proud and made the atmosphere something special and supported Boston xx

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Well done BBC on your organisation of this years Christmas Market.

Soooo many people have attended and I believe thoroughly enjoyed the event. How lucky are we !  loved it

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Well done Boston Borough Council for a fantastic weekend. Just like it used to be back in the day!

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Once again, Bostonians showed what they can do. A huge amount of positive energy and a noble cause. Big applause for the participants and organisers. I am glad that I could take part in all of this.

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Great event amazing turnout, so good to see Boston heaving !

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They are all very good the mums and dads young and old it's great to see them all enjoying themselves. a big thank you to the Boston Christmas party and all the people who made it all possible

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Fantastic weekend! Thanks for letting us be a part of it. Hopefully see you again next year!

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You guys put on such a great weekend, and we had a blast with you all on Saturday night!

Thanks for having us and thanks for all the hard work putting the event together

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Thank you to everyone that made this a fabulous event! We loved our time as traders. We will definitely be back at future events in the Boston area.

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Fantastic weekend, it was wonderful seeing everyone having fun and a lovely Christmas atmosphere. Congratulations to all involved you did us proud

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I think it's been great! We came up Friday evening and today, lots of great things to see and eat. well done to all that was involved.

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Great few days, lovely to see so many people and to hear so much positivity! Well done everyone.

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Congratulations on a fabulous Christmas weekend .we really enjoyed ourselves .The lights and Christmas tree look amazing and make our town look so much better THANK YOU. The Xmas stalls and food and drinks was a bonus with everyone enjoying themselves the wonderful groups playing on the stage made it festive ,the ice rink was a good favourite for the young and fair with the old favourites of times gone by .the children with their balloons playing and laughter .the big Santa run looked amazing .our Boston stump and its Xmas trees and I'm sure many more things we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves a fabulous week end to start December. THANK YOU, Boston council it was lovely seeing the town alive again and thanks to everyone concerned for making it possible. Also the parking that's definitely a bonus a merry Christmas to you all xxxx