St Peter's Square in Manchester has welcomed a new resident overnight - and he's a little hard to miss. The big light-up Santa figure has officially returned for the festive season.
While there might not be a big Christmas Lights switch on this year, festive light displays - including the light-up Santa - will be bringing some much-needed sparkle to the city centre. The large Santa installation snuck up on St Peter's Square this morning just outside the Central Library, with footage showing a large crane putting him in place atop a glittering present wrapped in a red bow.
Donning the classic Father Christmas attire, the installation has all the hallmark items of clothing including winter boots, a belt and a hat - plus his green gloves featuring a Manchester bee in a nod to the metropolis. He'll be part of the return of some special light sculptures across the city for people to grab a festive selfie with.
Read more: Manchester's biggest ever festive outdoor ice rink opens as part of Christmas Markets
The Big Santa's launch was held until today (14 November) due to Remembrance Sunday events being held in Sunday November 13. Manchester City Council have said that work has been done to get him ready for being lit later today, but he may not be fully complete until Tuesday, November 15, for those who were looking to snap some pictures.
Big Santa clocks in at a whopping 12 metres high and weighs over 2.3 tonnes. Powered by low energy LED lightbulbs, he even has his own Twitter account to join in with the holiday action- @MCRSanta.
Of course, many Mancunians will remember Zippy - the much-loved Santa who retired a few years back. The huge figure was apparently too heavy and cumbersome to keep building each year, and was replaced by a lighter model in 2019. Many Mancs still miss the original though, with many asking for the big man to come back.
Over the last week, Manchester has leaped into the festive spirit with the launch of the Christmas Markets on Thursday, followed by the opening of Skate Manchester on Friday night - the biggest ever festive outdoor ice rink, which features a dazzling seven-metre tall Christmas tree that skaters can skate around.
While there may be six weeks to go until the big day, thousands of people headed down to the Christmas Markets for its opening weekend. Saturday (November 12), was the first Saturday of trading for this year's markets, which run until December 22.
Even by early afternoon on Saturday, the markets was packed out with queues forming for the most popular traders and stalls. And despite the mild weather, a few Santa hats, which could give the one on St Peter's Square a run for its money, were on display as visitors soaked up the atmosphere.
Manchester Council confirmed last month that there would not be a return for the Christmas Lights Switch On event that had been part of the city's festivities prior to the pandemic. They blamed a lack of a "suitable or safe" location to host the annual event that would traditionally be attended by thousands.
While there will be no official switch-on event, there will be lights adorning most of the main shopping streets around Manchester city centre this year. The main areas to look out for are along Deansgate, Market Street, Exchange Square, St Ann's Square and King Street.
The main of hub of the of Manchester Christmas Markets for 2022 located in Piccadilly Gardens is where visitors will find a light arch, bauble, MCR sign and the start of the "light trail". New for this year, Manchester will also hosts lights designed by the city’s young people.
Earlier this year, young people from across the city were invited to enter a competition and design their own Christmas decorations as part of 2022 Our Year. The winners of the competition have had their designs turned into lights by Blachere Illuminations, and will be seen lighting up the night sky on Cathedral Walk.
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