The Christmas market and ice rink at Gloucester Quays will be returning to the docks in 2024 and at least for the next five years, with new permission having been granted for the popular festive attraction.
Gloucester City Council approved a proposal from the Quays for new temporary permission for the attraction at a meeting on 1 October 2024, meaning this year's festivities can officially go ahead.
The new permission runs from 2024 until 2029, with previous approval granted in 2019 having expired this year.
The Quays has operated an annual festive market and ice rink at the docks since 2016, with an expanded attraction occupying Mariners Square and Victoria Dock since 2017.
Both the market and the ice rink have proved extremely popular in that time and the Quays expects the rink to attract 30,000 skaters annually over the next five years.
The new permission is for the use of the site from 28 October until 18 January each year, with the ice rink operating from approximately early November to early January and the 'Victorian' Christmas market at weekends only from early November to early to mid-December.
The plans include the building of a 450 square metre covered ice rink along with structures for skate hire, a ticket office and observation area covering 300 square metre in Orchard Square.
The Christmas market will be formed of 36 temporary cabins, 25 marquees, 74 stalls and 'a number' of food and beverage pitches, located across the site but concentrated at Victoria Basin and Mariners Square.
Planning officers recommended approving the application, stating that the attraction is likely to continue to have 'positive benefits for the economy and for tourism', with Gloucester Quays saying that it encourages visitors to increase dwell times in the city centre and to choose Gloucester as a seasonal shopping destination.
This year's ice rink will run from Saturday 23 November 2024 to Sunday 5 January 2025, with Christmas markets from Saturday 2 November to Sunday 15 December 2024.
