THE Ulverston Dickensian Christmas Festival, one of the most loved and celebrated events in the area's calendar has been nominated for an award.

At this year's Heart of Ulverston Awards it has been nominated for the best Community Group/Project of the Year.

Now in its eighteenth year, the festival shows no signs of slowing down as it grows each year, and goes from strength to strength.

Thousands of visitors come from around the country to take in the sights, sounds and tastes of the festival when in full swing.

Stalls selling mulled wine, roasted nuts, shortbread and other festive treats were on sale for all to enjoy.

The festival atmosphere is always made more special by the stallholders, as well as members of the public dressing in authentic Dickensian clothing.

One of the organisers of the event, Peter Winston, of Sunderland Terrace, Ulverston spoke about what makes the event so special.

"So many of the people in town get involved, it's a great team effort for the town, Everyone from the Rotary Club to the Boy Scouts does a job."

Mr Winston spoke about how the festival went to a small tree-lighting ceremony in to the two-day festival it is today.

"When it first started it was just a switching on of the Christmas lights in the town square. It was only a little thing.

"There would be 100 people in the early days, then it grew and grew. It snowballed in a way, every year it got steadily bigger and bigger."

Last year at the Heart of Ulverston awards, the Dickensian Festival took home the award for best Community Group/Project of the Year.

As well as picking up this top award, the festival managed to bring in more than one million pounds for the local economy over the course of the weekend.

Mr Winston was pleasantly surprised that people have nominated the festival again this year.

He did not expect a nomination after the impact the appalling autumn weather had on the festival in 2015.

"The fact that somebody nominated us in one of our worst years speaks volumes," said Mr Winston.

The dealing for the Heart of Ulverston Awards is rapidly approaching, with final entries being accepted until Friday August 26.

Now is the time to give some recognition to those spent their time making our communities a better place to be.

Don't think about doing it in a few days, it will only take a few minutes, so why not recognise someone who means the world to you and your town.

The qualify, the person nominted must live, work be be in some way associated with the town of Ulverston, or the surrounding villages.

There are more than ten categories covering all walks of life meaning there is a place for everyone to be recognised.

Click here to find the nomination form

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