York residents and people from all across the globe are invited to join Visit York in celebrating Christmas this year – virtually. A surprise Visit York Christmas Special video will premiere at 2PM on Christmas Eve (December 24th) across Visit York social media channels and on YouTube, bringing festive cheer into homes across the city.
The video will bring to life what makes our city so special, particularly at this time of year – with a real community Christmas feel. Local businesses and personalities will come together to bring a combination of theatre, music, performances, stories and a special sing-along for all to enjoy this Christmas Eve from the comfort of their own homes.
The Visit York Christmas Special video will be presented by the city’s favourite Town Crier and this year’s Visit York Tourism Champion – Ben Fry. Resident Spookologist and expert storyteller of York’s ghoulish past, Dr Dorian Deathly, will open the Visit York Christmas Special with a phantasmagorical tale to add some mystery to the Christmas celebrations.
The Visit York Christmas Special will feature a number of musical performances including York’s very own singer-songwriter and BBC’s Fame Academy star, Alistair Griffin, and York based SONY Award winning songwriter, folk musician and Radio 4 “Open Country” presenter, Jez Lowe. Viewers will be able to enjoy a very special performance of “Silent Night” from year ones at Westfield Primary Community School, while the National Centre for Early Music will also share a part of their “York Christmas at Home” festival with a special musical performance from the Palisander ensemble.
Two of York’s theatres will show snippets of their latest performances. Badapple Theatre Company will perform a section of their production of “The Snow Dancer” – a touching winter fairy tale with a furry tail. The popular “Travelling Pantomime” from York Theatre Royal have also taken a break from their Christmas tour around the city and sent a snippet of their festive show to bring plenty of laughs and fun into the homes of everyone this Christmas.
The video will also have a special message from the Archbishop of York, followed by the York Minster Choir performance. And, to make this year very special to all in York, Visit York have got the biggest Christmas celebrity there is to wish all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, and they are inviting everyone to join the Visit York Christmas Special premiere to find out who this is!
Helen Apsey, Head of Culture and Wellbeing, Marketing and Communications at Make It York said:
“Our team has been working hard behind the scenes with our local community to create this Visit York Christmas Special. Even though Christmas may look a little different this year, we wanted to do something to spread some Christmas cheer and it’s great to see so many people contributing to this film, to do just that. We hope that this film will bring some festive magic into people’s homes on Christmas Eve, so please do tune in to watch the Visit York Christmas Special – and a very Merry Christmas from all of us here at Make It York.”
The Visit York Christmas Special will premiere at 2PM on Thursday 24 December on Visit York Facebook and YouTube channels. It will then be available to watch again on @VisitYork Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. The Visit York Christmas Special will also be broadcast live on YorkMix Radio at 2PM.
ENDS
Notes to Editor
Make It York
Make It York’s purpose is to develop and promote the city and its surroundings – nationally and internationally – as a vibrant and attractive place to live, visit, study, work and do business. The company’s remit covers leisure and business tourism, city centre management, festivals and events, business support and inward investment.
Visit York is a part of Make It York and is the leisure tourism brand
Under the brand Visit York, Make It York’s aim is to market York as a must-see world-class destination to the leisure visitor and ensure investment to develop the quality of tourism in York.
For more information please contact:
Ana Ignatova – Communications Executive
Email: ana.ignatova@makeityork.com
