New community Christmas tree festival comes to Kettering - and you can vote for their favourite

The Mayor of Kettering is hosting the first-ever Kettering Christmas Tree Festival, in partnership with St Andrews Church.

Community groups, organisations and charities are decorating the trees which will then be on display in December.

The winning tree will be awarded a thank you prize of £100 from the Mayor, with members of the public able to vote for their favourite.

Mayor of Kettering, Cllr Craig Skinner, said: “I am really pleased to be hosting this new festival. It’s a great way of celebrating Christmas and allowing local groups to get involved and share the good work they are doing. I am really looking forward to seeing all the creative ways the trees are decorated and showcasing our great town.”

The 20, six-foot trees are being provided by Ise Garden Centre and will be ready to decorate December. They will be in the church from Saturday 14 December across the festive period for people to come and see.

Rev Tom Houston, from St Andrew’s Church, said: “We were so pleased to be asked to host this Christmas Tree festival and enable more people to experience the amazing redevelopment works inside the church.

“I'm very excited to see the creativity from the different groups as they decorate their trees and we hope that this helps raise the awareness of the many wonderful charities and organisations in the town who do such important work.”

There will be a grand opening of the festival with the mayor at 10am on Saturday, December 14 at St Andrew’s Church, Kettering.

The festival will be open for public viewing:

Saturday, December, 14 from10am to 2pm

Friday, December, 20 from 5pm to 8pm

Saturday, December, 21 from 2pm to 4pm

Friday, December, 27, from 2pm to 4pm

Saturday, December, 28 from 2pm to 4pm

Organisations taking part will be 5th Kettering Scout Group, Kettering Mind, Grange Resource Centre, Kettering Community Unit, William Street Community Garden, Isebrook School,

Hayfield Cross Primary School, St Peter’s School, The Green Patch – Groundwork Trust, Brightwayz, Picture the Difference, Millbrook Junior School, Kettering Kosmos Women’s Institute, Kettering Quilters, Youth Works, Shine Arts, Kettering Civic Society, Team Mikayla and Kettering Wombles.