Father Christmas himself, plus two of his team of reindeer, will be the stars of the show at Central Library’s Christmas extravaganza.  



The library’s traditional free family festival will be extended this year, thanks to a special Sunday opening.
After a day of activities on Saturday 12 December (10am – 4pm), the library will also open its doors from 12 – 4pm on Sunday 13 December. 

Santa will be present from 1 – 3pm on both days, accompanied by two real life reindeers – providing seasonal selfie potential for all librarygoers. 

A Fortnum & Mason Christmas hamper and £20 of free goodies from the newly relaunched and expanded Central Library shop will be among the prizes in a grand raffle to be held on Sunday, with more to be confirmed.

Live Christmas music will be performed throughout the library, with songs from the Manchester Cathedral Choristers, Loreto Jazz Band, Blackley Youth Stage Big Band, Manchester Community Choir and many others.

Children’s author Cornelia Funke will reading from her bestselling novel ‘Inkheart’ – which is being staged at HOME this Christmas – plus her latest novel, in the iconic Reading Room (Saturday, 11am – 12.30pm).

A range of family craft activities will be on offer across the weekend, with the chance to help create Christmas Reading Dens, or create your very own vintage decorations and Christmas cards, based on items from our archive collections. All materials will be provided and the activities are suitable for all ages, but children must be accompanied by an adult.

A demonstration of the library’s 3D printers will be held on Saturday (2 – 4pm), giving visitors the chance to watch the creation of festive objects and learn more about this fascinating, futuristic technology.

Christmas items from the city’s archives will be on display at handling sessions on both Saturday and Sunday, while seasonal films from the North West Film Archive will be available to view.

A special edition of Story Time with Dad with festive songs and stories will be held in the Children’s Library (Saturday, 11am).

And the Central Library shop will be open, offering perfect gift ideas for anybody who wants to do a spot of Manchester-themed Christmas shopping – with everything from silk scarves to jigsaws to art prints on offer.

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