It began when funds were needed to repair the roof of the village church and the Forestry Commission stopped selling Savernake Christmas trees and gave the village of Burbage a left-over plantation of young trees.
This Saturday and Sunday (December 6 & 7), the Burbage Christmas tree sale and market will be welcoming people from far and wide – and marking the events twentieth anniversary.
There will be a huge range of high-quality, freshly-cut British trees available to choose from, as well as a fantastic Christmas market of over 35 stalls, activities for the children, live music from the Pewsey Belles Choir, refreshments including hotdogs and mulled wine – and much more.
Twenty years on and the trees from the forest are gone, but the tree-selling tradition remains and is bigger than ever. In 2013 the event attracted over 2,000 visitors, sold more than 700 trees and raised in excess of £17,000 for All Saints Church.
Organiser George Gordon says: “We buy the trees in now, but they are always locally sourced when possible. Apart from that nothing has really changed – it’s just got a lot bigger and continues to grow each year!”
“We are run entirely by volunteers and have an army of more than 50 people who help to make this event so special.”
Local businesses are also hugely supportive of this event, with Equilibrium, Haine & Smith, Soft Options, Tesco Marlborough and Burbage’s Three Horseshoes pub, Mace shop and Esso fuel station all sponsors for the event this year or donating raffle prizes.
On Saturday the tree sale and market will be open from 9.00am to 4.30pm and on Sunday from 9.00am to 2.00pm.
