The story of how Lancaster On Ice came to be a reality is like a Christmas wish come true for Hannah and Martin Horner, owners of the bustling pub and restaurant The Borough on Dalton Square. They often looked out of the window onto the scenic square, especially in the cold winter months, wondering how they could use the space to bring life, fun and sharing to the local and North West community.
A chance conversation with event consultant Chris Selkirk of Sustainable Festivals, who works behind the scenes of many regional events and festivals, including locally, the hugely successful Highest Point Festival, Lancaster Castles? event programming, Lancaster Music Festival, Light Up Lancaster, Lakes Alive in Cumbria and Creamfields in Cheshire, has helped Hannah and Martin to make the dream come true. Finally, the team brought in local marketing expert Dan Knowles to manage the marketing and commercial operations of the event.
Working with local primary schools and children?s organisations, Lancaster On Ice aims to provide an idyllic, frozen Christmas haven and to give as many children as possible the chance to experience the wonders of the rink through a young people?s programme.
A Dream for The Future
Whilst 2018 marked the start of Lancaster on Ice we hope that this is just the beginning of the story. In coming years the Lancaster on Ice team would like to build an arena that dominates the whole of Dalton Square, with Christmas Markets, traditional fairground rides,concerts and much more. We hope that Christmas in Lancaster will become a tradition to rival events in Manchester, Edinburgh and London.