Chester's retailers get into the festive spirit with a city wide Christmas window competition

The team at Chester BID have organised a festive window competition to bring the Christmas cheer back into the city after a year of lockdowns and turmoil. It will see city retailers battle it out to have the best festive windows with the public deciding who is crowned most Christmassy!

Chester’s retailers come together to decorate windows to give the people of the city ‘the most festive experience possible’ after a troubled year.

Chester’s Business Improvement District is making sure #ChristmasinChester is still as enchanting for Cestrians as possible with a festive window competition which will see almost fifty retailers and hospitality windows compete to see who can bring the most Christmas spirit to the city’s streets.

Emily Ghazarian, Events and Marketing at Chester BID, said: ‘We don’t need to spell out the ups and downs our city has had this year to know that Chester, its businesses and residents need some added Christmas cheer. Our businesses are pulling out all the stops to give as much festive joy as they can – making a wander through Chester an even more heart-warming and joyous experience.

‘The windows will be ready to view from Friday December the 4^th and the public will have the opportunity to choose their favourites. Then we’ll take a team of Cestrian judges around to choose their favourites – each category (Independents or chain) will have the opportunity to win a peoples choice award and a judges award.

‘We really hope that our residents and visitors enjoy pottering around the streets, enjoying the creativity of the businesses. Please join in and share your favourite windows on social media – and support our local and independents!’

To vote for your favourite festive window – please either link through  -

1. Facebook Album where every LIKE counts as a vote
2. Instagram via @Chester BID 
3. OR email your vote via hello@chesterbid.co.uk

Every voter will be entered into a draw to win a Chester Gift Card to the value of £50. To see the Christmas windows in person before casting a vote, the team at Chester BID suggest taking advantage of the free parking initiative at Chester Racecourse on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.

The following shops have joined to enter the Christmas Window Competition:

About Chester BID Company

A Business Improvement District (BID) is a business-led, business-funded body created to improve a defined commercial area. The CH1ChesterBID is funded solely by the businesses within the city.

There are over 460 businesses in Chester’s BID area with a rateable value of more than £18,000. Each of these contribute a levy equal to 1% of their business rates every year to fund a wide range of improvements identified by the businesses themselves. It is expected that approximately £2.5m of private sector funds will be generated over the five-year BID term and this money will be reinvested back into the city centre.

In June 2019, hundreds of businesses voted in favour of the plans to renew the BID’s term in Chester and on September 1^st, 2019, CH1ChesterBID Company started a second five year-term with the intention of continuing to deliver a more vibrant and successful trading environment for Chester city centre.

For more information, visit www.ch1ChesterBID.co.uk