ORGANISERS of this year’s Christmas extravaganza in Weymouth town centre are hoping to attract more than a million people into the town during the Yuletide period.

Preparations are now well underway for Weymouth’s BIG Christmas, organised by the town’s Business Improvement District (BID), which is set to kick off in just over six weeks' time with the Victorian Shownight on Friday, December 4.

There will be a host of festive delights taking place in the town throughout December, including pop-up pantos, a real ice rink, Christmas markets and a Santa’s grotto as the BID tries to encourage more people to shop in Weymouth for presents for their loved ones.

Organisers believe that due to the regular schedule of events, plus the ice rink outside Debenhams, more than a million people will flock to the town, providing a huge boost to local businesses.

Roger Dalton, who is one of the people behind the month-long event, said: “We record movements of people on the footfall cameras, which are installed at various locations throughout the town.

“On an average weekend, there are about 200,000 movements of people recorded on the cameras, and when there is an event held in the town, that figure increases to around 300,000 people, so we hope that with successive events over the four weekends there will be more than a million people throughout the month visiting the town centre.

“We have invested a lot of money to try and make this year bigger and better, and the biggest difference is the real ice rink, which we think will attract a lot of local people into the town centre.

“The idea for the month-long activities came from the retailers. They said to us that they liked the Victorian Shownight, but it would be much better if it could be spread out over a month rather than concentrated on one night.”

Plans for the Christmas event received a boost earlier this week after BID proposals for a discounted parking scheme in town centre car parks was approved given the green light by the borough council.

Mr Dalton added: “We are trying to do something to attract more people into the town.

“We could all sit back and let the online shopping take over, but, what the BID is trying to do is to drive the traffic of people into the town and towards businesses.

“The town’s summer season will take care of itself, but what we are trying to do is continue to drive the trade through until Christmas and the New Year, so businesses can have nine months of effective trade and build a sustainable business before the traditional quiet time of January, February and March.”

Organisers are now seeking volunteers for the festive events. Go to weareweymouth.co.uk