LLANDUDNO businesses were booming over the Bank Holiday weekend as thousands of visitors flocked to the Victorian Extravaganza.
Fairground rides, costumed parades and temperatures hitting the 20° mark added to the festivities as the town closed off main roads and side streets to host the annual event, which celebrated its 25th year.
Martin Bland of the St Tudno Hotel said: “We have been increasingly busy. The Extravaganza weekend was extremely good, one of the best in recent years, and I'm sure the weather played a big part in that.
“We’ve seen a lot of people coming in for lunch - a whole cross section of visitors from abroad and elsewhere in the country, including Americans, Europeans, Australians and even South Africans.
“It was definitely a boost for Llandudno. Hopefully everyone else has done well from this as well.”
Simon Shelby of the Cottage Loaf also confirmed he was also “a lot busier than normal”, with other businesses claiming to benefit from the Extravaganza too.
Cllr Billy Evans said: “I have never seen so many people - it was a total success. We usually have shopkeepers not very happy but I’m sure they did very well this year.
“We often get rumblings over the Victorian angle, that the new modern rides are taking over the Victorian side gradually. But I don’t think it will. That's the most important part. It’s still keeping its Victorian theme within the town.
“If there was one thing to look at it’s the parking. There is not a lot of room. People were parking by Ysgol John Bright. But if you made room for parking you would take away from other things.”
The official number of visitors estimated to have visited the Extravaganza were unavailable at the time of going to print, but Bob Bromilow of The Lansdowne, said his hotel was full over the Bank Holiday weekend thanks to delegates attending a high-profile Christian conference at Venue Cymru, and the beautiful sunshine in addition to the event.
He said: “We were full and all the guest houses owners we know were also full. The Extravaganza weekend is always busy. Numbers were definitely up on last year.
“A few guests commented that the parade was small this year and there weren’t as many bands and troops marching round but the superb weather made everybody quite happy overall.”
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