MORE THAN 130,000 people visited a Christmas festival in its inaugural year.

A total of 131,224 people looked around the market at the Brighton Christmas Festival over five weeks.

While more than 19,000 were recorded through the entrance on one day alone - December 4.

And 10,825 tickets were also sold for shows in St Peter's Pavilion at the Apres Ski Zone.

CEO of E3 Events, the festival's organiser, David Hill thanked everyone who supported the festival, "both those who live locally and the thousands who came from further afield."

He said: "There is no doubt that this huge number of visitors had a positive impact on the city's local economy.

"We are confident we can attract more traders in 2022, and we are looking forward to a bumper Brighton Christmas Festival later this year."

Mr Hill also said that the festival faced "various challenges", including two storms which forced the festival to temporarily close, and the spread of the Omicron variant of Covid-19.

He said: "There is no denying that Covid had a huge impact, providing various challenges for us, including the supply chains and indeed some people who chose to stay at home because of the pandemic."

Residents near the festival had complained that the festival had caused too much noise late at night, with loud music blaring as late as 11pm.

Mr Hill said said that changes will be made for next year's event and that the concerns of residents have been listened to.

He said: "We will make changes in 2022, including the layout of the market, and we have also listened to local residents, particularly about noise levels.

"I want to reassure everyone that this was a big learning curve in 2021, and we look forward to 2022 with great excitement."

The festival was approved by Brighton and Hove City Council to run for three years in March last year, and was listed as one of the best Christmas markets in the UK.

A council spokesman said: "After a challenging year for everyone in the city, we've been pleased to see a new winter event attract footfall and interest.

"The council aims to manage a balance between successful events programme in the city centre and the views of residents.

"We will be reviewing the success of this first event in due course, taking into account feedback from the event organisers and residents."

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