Merry Hill Centre brings festive cheer with range of Christmas-themed activities

There's set to be a month of festive fun and cheer at Merry Hill as the centre provides a range of activities and community events.

Merry Hill will be putting on Christmas-themed activities, community events and a bespoke skating rink for thousands of visitors to enjoy in December, in addition to the transformed retail and leisure offering at the centre

The free family-friendly activities officially launch on December 7 with the unveiling of the all-new rink, which uses an environmentally friendly skating surface that mimics the glide of real ice, without the need for the large amount of water, electricity, or refrigeration that a normal ice rink requires.

It will offer a completely immersive festive experience, complete with twinkling lights, joyful Christmas music and falling snow that feels like the real stuff.

Every day between 11am and 5pm, until Wednesday, January 8, the Rink can be found in the central event space on the lower mall, between M&S and Mango and is completely free, but booking is advised.

The centre has also unveiled a brand-new Christmas decorations scheme which can be enjoyed across all of the centre malls. 

The scheme named ‘The Flight Before Christmas’ is inspired by the Flying Anvils sculpture at the centre by local artist Paul Margetts and the hot air balloon in the original Jules Vern food court. 

The scheme features more than 50 hot air balloons delivering gifts for Christmas surrounded by large statement decorations in the centre areas.

Shoppers can also immerse themselves in festive fun with thousands of decorations and huge discounts at Merry Hill’s Christmas megastore, Christmas House, located on the lower mall opposite Boots.

Visitors will also see local talent boost the festive atmosphere across Merry Hill throughout December with community choirs including Got 2 Sing Choir, the Rock Choir, and the Salvation Army, bringing cheer to the centre.

A team of wrappers from local environmental organisation Wild Earth Movement will also be on hand at the Crafty Wrapper Station on the Upper Mall by H&M between December 14 and 18.

The team will be ready to help wrap visitor’s gifts in an environmentally friendly way in exchange for a small charity donation.

Jonathan Poole, centre manager at Merry Hill, said: “Christmas is such a special time for us and our visitors. 

"With new brands galore across every floor and our work with local community choirs, and exciting new activities like this years’ skating rink, we pride ourselves on offering our visitors a magical and easy experience whether they’re turning their to do list into festive bliss or enjoying time with friends and family.

"“Shoppers have even more choice all under one roof this year as we’ve continued to evolve our retail and leisure offering in 2024 with exciting recent openings including Harvey Norman, Castore, and ProCook. 

"Our late-night shopping hours also offer extra flexibility for visitors to pick up everything they need ahead of their Christmas celebrations.”

To find out more about opening times and the activities offer, go to the Merry Hill website.