Little Chelsea welcomes thousands of happy faces as they kick off December in style

Bluey, Bingo, Elsa and Father Christmas were there to greet little ones and South Street Free Church welcomed guests to join in with Christmas Carols and enjoy a mince pie whilst children were invited to take part in festive arts and crafts in the warm.

The fireworks display was titled ‘the best I've ever seen!’ by many spectators as they lit up the sky immediately after a fantastically creative lazor light display hit the town hall.

The Pantomime lads Potty Pierre, played by Tucker and the Handsom Prince, played by Lewes Roberts, took to the stage to judge the fancy dress competition in three categories, children, adults and dogs.

The crowd helped the stars choose the winners, with the loudest cheer for 7-year-old Harriet who was dressed very confidently as a gingerbread woman. Two adults competed in cracker costumes and told cheesy jokes to see who would be crowned the winner of a bottle of wine.

Cathy from Profile Hair Design worked hard to ensure the raffle had loads of fantastic prizes donated by businesses in Little Chelsea. The raffle alone raised an incredible £700 for the Eastbourne Foodbank and Samaritans.

There festive stalls were co-ordinated by Helen from Incredible Cake and Michelle from Urban Ground ensuring the event had a huge array of local makers selling items including cakes, gifts, decorations and sweet treats. Viv at Printers Playhouse organised the Stage Acts which kept the crowds entertained throughout the afternoon and into the evening.

Stephen Holt, CEO of Your Eastbourne BID said: ‘It was great to support the return of the festive fun and fireworks in little Chelsea - and the event lived up to its title! Congratulations to the brilliant organisers and thanks to our volunteers, performers and traders.’

Event organiser, Lucy Hancock from The Art House, said: “Wow! We really couldn’t have hoped for a better evening. To see the people of Eastbourne laughing, smiling and enjoying themselves is all we could wish for. Thank you to everyone who wrapped up warm and came out to support the event – we can’t wait to do it again with the event already scheduled for Friday 6th December 2024!”