Businesses in Bury St Edmunds will be looking to their customers, visitors and residents to help judge the town centre’s annual best dressed Christmas window competition. After being run digitally for the first time last year, the organisers of the competition, Our Bury St Edmunds, have opted for a public vote again this year to choose the winner and runners up. Everyone who votes using the LoyalFree app will be eligible for a prize draw to win one of three Our Bury St Edmunds Gift Cards that can be spent in more than 60 different town centre businesses.
Participating windows, vying for a chance to hold the prestigious Our Bury St Edmunds Shield for the next year, are listed as a special trail on the app to make it easy for them all to be viewed. The app is free to download and voting in the competition is also free. Voting is open between Monday November 29 and Sunday December 12 with the winner being announced the following week. The Business Improvement District (BID) took over the organisation of the long-standing and popular festive award 12 years ago and has seen the standard of the competition get higher every year.
Mike Kirkham from Our Bury St Edmunds said: “Last year the public voted for LOFT & SPIRES, with Javelin and Tudor Rose close runners up. This year there are more than 25 participating businesses and we hope users of the app will use the trail to have a look at as many as possible before casting their vote. Our businesses put so much hard work into their shop windows at this time of year and it’s fantastic that so many have applied to take part in this competition.
“Now that the town’s Christmas lights are on, everywhere is looking really festive and there is so much to see and do here over the next few weeks. The Christmas window trail is also a great way to find some extra special places to buy gifts and deciding who to vote for makes a fun activity for all the family to take part in. Whether you are coming in for shopping, to meet friends in a social setting or because you work in the town centre if your vote is for the eventual winner or runners up you’ll have a chance to win an Our Bury St Edmunds Gift Card.”
The annual competition is being promoted in partnership with Bury St Edmunds Town Council and Town Mayor Peter Thompson will present the Our Bury St Edmunds Shield to the winning business. Further information about how to vote is available by downloading the LoyalFree app or by visiting www.ourburystedmunds.com.