People have been flocking to Britain’s ‘most festive pub’ to see their newest seasonal creation—a 26-foot snowman made from 2,500 empty wine bottles.
The Queen Victoria Inn in Somerset, England, began hosting Christmas lights displays a decade ago, as a way to raise money for charity.
This year the popular pub also features a huge wreath on the side of the building, a two story structure covered in 55,000 white lights collected over the years, which stretches over 9 miles (15km) long.
The new snowman is made from a huge steel structure supporting the empty wine bottles collected by the pub and other restaurants in the area.
“We are a little pub in the middle of nowhere and it puts us on the map,” said the owner, Mark Walton. “It brings so many visitors—it is absolutely mental.
“It has been in the top 10 Christmas decorations on MSN News and things like that and we just laugh at it.”
“We just walk past it and think nothing of it and then you see people coming in and they are like ‘wow’.”
The thousands of lights will be switched on each day at 4pm (through 9pm)—until New Year’s Eve. (Watch the video below…)
The 57-year-old estimates that over the years he’s spent around $50,000 for the display and energy bills.
“All the bulbs are energy efficient—even the spotlights, so it does not go up as much as people think, luckily.
“It adds up but it does ok and the charity does really well out of it,” he told SWNS News.
In the past five years, the display has raised more than £25,000 ($31k) for a local hospice—the Children’s Hospice South West. This year, he hopes to raise over £5,000.
“It is a good time to remember that some people are not having such a great Christmas and the hospice does so much to support the families and the children.”
Along with cash dropped placed in donation boxes, many of the contributions come from the internet, via their Just Giving page.
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As part of their fundraising for the hospice, the pub also hosted an annual Santa run on December 15.
Watch the video below, and to make a donation visit their JustGiving page…
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