Organisers of the annual Shropshire Handmade and Creative Christmas Gift Fair are planning to “launch this year’s festive season with a bang” on the weekend of November 23 and 24.

More than 60 local traders will be offering handmade, home designed and artisan products and food at the popular event, which is held at Salop Leisure’s headquarters at Emstrey, Shrewsbury and offers free admission and parking.

Last year’s event attracted more than 10,000 visitors over the weekend and the organiser, Carrie Hughes, owner of Pink Pebble Events, is hoping for a similar attendance this year.

She revealed that the Christmas Fair will feature many new traders to bring a fresh selection of products for visitors to view and buy.

“The Christmas Fair has such a good reputation that we get booked up months in advance with existing and new traders wanting to take part,” she added. “I think it’s important to introduce new things every year so that the event doesn’t become stale and our visitors get to see new products and styles that they’ve not seen before at this fair.

“The food hall vendors and traders and the street food traders will again be based in the Love Plants centre at Salop Leisure.

“The fair is a great place to do your Christmas shopping because there are so many different and unique products on offer that you won’t find on the High Street.”

The weekend also marks the opening of Santa’s Grotto at Salop Leisure and parents can pre-book their children’s appointment with Santa online at www.salopchristmas.co.uk. A charge of £9 per child will be made to see Santa, which includes a gift and a souvenir photograph.

November 23 also sees the launch of SalopLeisure’s festive synthetic outdoor skating rink at the Love2Stay resort. A charge of £8.50 per person will be made for 45 minutes on the 96 square metre rink.

Ed Glover, SalopLeisure’s marketing manager, said the Christmas Fair was an excellent example of Shropshire companies working together to organise an event for shoppers and boost business in the run up to the festive season.

For full details of the SalopLeisure’s Christmas events programme, visit www.salopchristmas.co.uk