Waterford plans winter wonderland

IT may be just mid-September, but business leaders in Waterford are already planning a Winter wonderland in the heart of the booming city at Christmas.

Waterford Chamber of Commerce is proposing a massive, Christmas festival in the city, a key attraction of which would see an ice skating rink developed over what is traditionally the busiest shopping period. The project is the brainchild of Waterford Chamber CEO Monica Leech, who is planning to put the proposal to the Bullet-Proof Your Business Seminar at the Tower Hotel next Tuesday.

At that meeting, she will canvass support for the project from traders for an event she says could attract as many as 35,000 people to Waterford.

Ms Leech said discussions with Futureama Productions, the company proposing to bring an ice skating rink to Waterford between early December and early January, were progressing.

She revealed that the Chamber was scheduled to meet with City Manager Conn Murray about the festival on Monday. Two city centre sites have to date been shortlisted as potential locations for the Holiday on Ice Rink.

The temporary ice rink would create up to 80 seasonal jobs if it gets off the ground.