This weekend residents in Carlisle came to visit an amazing winter attraction that truly entertained the crowds.

Hundreds in the area flocked to the Stanwix Festive Filler Fair which was staged in the playground of Stanwix School, Stanwix Community Centre and St Michael's Parish Church.

The event ran from 11am until 3:30pm and was funded largely by the restarting communities fund, which is to encourage community events post Covid 19.

Councillor Paul Nedved said: " We had a host of craft and food stalls in Stanwix School Yards , a Santa Grotto, Elves ,and 2 alpacas and local choirs during the course of the day.

"In the Community Centre we had raffles and quizzes and more stalls . In St Michael’s Church a viewing of “the Snowman “ was shown.

"Local businesses from Stanwix and the local area donated a wide range of prizes for the raffle and quizzes and tombola with funds going to Jigsaw, Eden Valley Hospice and the Friends of Stanwix School."

Despite the poor weather conditions many people still turned up to enjoy the festivities. With the organisers explaining how great it was to see the community spirit and the large turnout of young people to the fair.

The event was organised by Stanwix Community Centre volunteers and also Abby Kilfedder of Artscool who did a huge amount of work arranging the day's events.

We are told that the volunteers played a huge role in helping the day's events go ahead. The City Council were also on hand to provide stalls and tables were provided by Stanwix school.

Local ward councillors Elizabeth and John Mallinson along with Fiona Robson and Paul Nedved were also heavily involved with the organisation of the event throughout the day.

Councillor Nedved added: "I was delighted with the huge response from the local residents and was lovely to see so many out enjoying themselves. It was a real show of community Christmas spirit after all the stresses and strains over the last 2 years . We are so grateful to the stall holders , local choirs , businesses , Community Association , Stanwix School and Church for their tremendous support."