St Thomas’s annual Christmas Tree Festival is an exciting opportunity for local organisations, individuals, charities, businesses and schools to create and exhibit Christmas trees and nativity scenes which reflect what is important for them as they look forward to celebrating Christmas.
The Festival includes a daily programme of inspiring music provided by local community and school choirs, music groups and individual performers. Our Festival Café provides delicious home baked cakes and refreshments throughout the week. As a community event, the Festival is loved and enjoyed by people local to Salisbury and visitors from far and wide. For many it is the start of their Christmas celebrations.
This year the Festival will run from Tuesday 5th December to Sunday 10th December. Click/tap on the programme (right) to see all the details.
Visiting the Festival is free but donations are welcome as visitors leave. Thanks to the generosity of visitors making donations and the profits from the Festival Café, the church is able to donate equal sums to two benefiting charities, and the Church itself benefits from an equal sum towards its community work, maintenance and upkeep.
Entering a Tree or Nativity Scene in 2023 is now closed
Entry for the 2023 Christmas Tree Festival is now closed. We thank everyone for their kind support.
Benefiting Charities for the 2023 Christmas Tree Festival
We are excited that the organisations chosen as our beneficiaries for this year are:
Salisbury Alzheimer’s Support. Funding from Christmas Tree Festival 2022 helped set up a new day-centre, which now operates four days a week for 11 clients each day. Services include specialist staff, small group activities, therapy dogs, lunch, music and good company. Money raised during this year’s Festival will support continued service provision.
Salisbury Trust for the Homeless. The Trust provides accommodation for 33 clients in nine houses staffed by three professional support workers and a team of volunteers. Clients are supported to develop their skills, regain self-esteem and access opportunities for employment, education and training. Money raised during this year’s Festival will support continued service provision.
For any queries, please email treefest@stthomassalisbury.co.uk
The Rector and congregation of St Thomas’s look forward to welcoming all exhibitors, musicians, singers and visitors to the 2023 Festival.
2022 Christmas Tree Festival
Last year we held the 18th St Thomas’s annual Christmas Tree Festival from 29th November to 4th December. This was the first Festival to be held after the Covid pandemic and we were delighted to welcome more than 11,000 visitors. Visitors were able to enjoy the 95 Christmas trees and nativity scenes which were on display. They were also able to be inspired by 93 wonderful musical performances by individuals, music groups and local community and school choirs. The Church Festival Café was busy all week providing delicious home baked cakes which were extremely popular and much enjoyed.
Entry to visit the festival was, as always, free but donations were welcomed at the exit in aid of two local charities and the Church itself. Thanks to the generosity of visitors making donations and the profits from the Festival Café the church has been able to donate £5,059.49p to each of two charities in 2022, The Friends of Salisbury Shopmobility and Alzheimer’s Support. The Church itself benefited from an equal sum towards its maintenance and work in the parish and city.
The organising committee was very grateful for the time and talents of many members of the congregation and volunteers from the wider community, performers, exhibitors and sponsors who did so much to help make the Festival such a success.
For more details of last year’s Festival including exhibits, performances and our generous sponsors click on the cover of the programme below.
Slide show of the 2022 Christmas Tree Festival
Slider photo credits: John Cox, Keith Blakey, Steve Hoffman