Three festive Saturdays planned for Friars Square Shopping Centre

On Saturday 30 November Bjorn the polar bear will visit Friars Square. The stunning lifelike animatronic polar bear and his herder Ursula will treat shoppers to three nature documentary-style talks where children will be able to learn all about bears and their arctic habitat.

There will even be an opportunity for brave children to feed and even stroke the polar bear. Shows are at 11am, 12.30pm and 2pm.

There will also be walkabouts from the gorgeous Glitter Belles in their stunning sparkly outfits – part 70s disco combined with avant-garde fashion. They will be joined by the Snow Princesses and a roller skating snowmen.

On Saturday 7 December youngsters can meet the Christmas Nutkins two charming giant squirrels who are nuts about the festive season. The cuddly red squirrels will

give out lots of Christmas hugs.

They will be joined by The Celebrity Reindeer Prancer and Dancer who will strut their stuff on their bouncy stilts. A sprinkle of seasonal magic will come from a roller skating Christmas pudding and a rather rotound skating snowman who will roll around giving out treats.

On Saturday 14 December there will be some very important visitors from the snowy Antartic, Crumpet the Elf and his friends the penguin family. These elegant eight foot Emperor penguins and their gorgeous chick Egbertah are sure to be a hit.

The characters combine animatronic costumes, traditional puppetry and witty banter.

There will be fantastic festive balloon modelling from the glamourous Inflate-a-belles. There will be sparkle from a pair of stiltwalking frost fairies who will spread festive cheer. Plus a roller skating reindeer too.

The events are free and take place between 11am and 3pm. More details at facebook/FriarsSquareShoppingCentre or friarssquareshopping.com