A Reignited Christmas Across Bournemouth’s Coast 🎄
As the festive season comes to a close, Bournemouth Coastal BID is proud to reflect on what has been a truly transformative Christmas across our coastal area.
This year marked a reimagined and reinvigorated festive season, delivered at a time when natural reductions in public funding created genuine uncertainty around whether Bournemouth could continue to offer a compelling winter attraction for visitors, residents, and the hospitality sector. In response, Coastal BID stepped forward to ensure Bournemouth remained vibrant, welcoming, and economically active throughout the winter months.
Christmas Events That Brought Communities Together
Across the BID area, a series of festive events and activations brought life, colour, and celebration to our coastal communities:
Westbourne Christmas Tree Light Switch-On saw the village come together for a joyful evening of festive cheer, officially launching the Christmas season in one of Bournemouth’s most loved neighbourhoods. Our amazing traders supported us in securing local legend Harry Redknapp to turn on the lights.
Christmas in Bournemouth delivered a colourful and light filled festive programme at Pier Approach in Central Bournemouth, encouraging footfall all the way through the gardens down to the seafront.
Christmas Comes to Westbourne: A Festive Success showcased the power of collaboration, local pride, and community spirit in creating memorable seasonal moments, Santa arrived by firetruck to the wonderment of children and parents alike.
Christmas on the Green provided a family-friendly festive experience on Southbourne Green, adding warmth and atmosphere to the coastal calendar, with musical highlights from Gugge2000.
Christmas in Boscombe: Santa’s Grotto delighted children and families, reinforcing Boscombe as a welcoming and engaging destination during the festive period.
Together, these events created a strong and cohesive Christmas offering that supported local businesses while bringing festive joy to residents and visitors alike.
A Reimagined Coastal Christmas Experience
Through careful negotiation and long-term, sustainable planning with Seventa Events, Coastal BID and our local hotels made the strategic decision to invest levy funding into a new festive installation, designed not as a one-off event, but as a scalable attraction that can grow year after year.
This year’s dazzling Christmas light trail stretched from the Lower Gardens to Pier Approach, featuring:
A Christmas Tree Maze
Interactive colour-changing light installations
Santa’s wooden log grotto
A children’s interactive area
A mini Polar Express-style train
And, for the very first time, Santa flying across the RockReef PierZIP
The festive lights, including those installed at Pier Approach, helped to illuminate key gateways into the town and enhance the overall visitor experience. Purposefully created to increase footfall, support traders, and strengthen Bournemouth’s winter economy, the installation positioned Bournemouth as a must-visit coastal destination throughout the festive season.
Delivered in collaboration with Seventa Events, Skate Events, and Town Centre BID, the festive attractions remained completely free to access, ensuring everyone could enjoy the season while supporting local businesses.
After two years of dedicated work, Bournemouth Coastal BID was proud to help secure the return of Christmas lights to Westbourne, including the much-loved festoon lighting that residents and businesses had been asking for. This long-term effort brought festive sparkle back to the village, enhancing the high street, creating a welcoming atmosphere, and supporting local businesses throughout the Christmas period. The return of the lights marked an important milestone for Westbourne, demonstrating the value of sustained investment and collaboration in keeping our local centres vibrant during the festive season. Our very own Harry Redknapp was the man to turn the ligths on this year, with our biggest crowd yet turning up to cheer him on.
Supporting Our Businesses and Hotels
In response to direct feedback from our hotels requesting additional festive-season support, Coastal BID implemented a two-pronged business support strategy:
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Overnight security patrols delivered by the Vanguard Security Team
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A free crime reporting app – SentrySIS, developed in close collaboration with the police to improve intelligence sharing and create a more joined-up approach to tackling crime across the conurbation
Security Service Details:
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Operating dates: 5th December – 31st December 2025
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Nights covered: Every Friday and Saturday, plus New Year’s Eve
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Hours: 9pm – 7am
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Patrol areas: Around all hotels, with rapid response to call-outs
Alongside this, Coastal BID has been actively visiting hotels and sharing messaging in partnership with BAHA, generating positive engagement and press coverage around the support provided.
To all levy payers, we encourage continued use of the SentrySIS crime reporting app, accessible via QR code or direct registration. In emergencies, please always call 999.
Xmas Light Switch on in Westbourne
Santa’s Grotto Boscombe
Christmas Comes to Westbourne
Christmas on the Green – Southbourne
Coastal BID Social Media Impact
This year, we proudly managed the Visit Southbourne, Love Westbourne, and Coastal BID Facebook and Instagram platforms, using our channels to actively promote local businesses, events, and the wider coastal area.
The results speak for themselves:
- 428,000+ people reached via Love Westbourne social media
- 450,000+ views across Visit Southbourne content
- 156,000+ views on the Coastal BID social platforms
Together, this means we achieved over 1 MILLION views across Coastal BID-managed platforms, shining a spotlight on businesses and destinations across the area.
Throughout the year, we also collaborated with over 150 of our local businesses brands, helping to extend reach, build stronger connections, and deliver greater visibility for our levy payers.
By working collectively and strategically, we continue to amplify local voices, drive footfall, and support the growth of our coastal economy.
Thank you to every business that collaborated with us this year, we’re excited to build on this momentum in the year ahead.
Looking Ahead
This Christmas demonstrated what can be achieved through collaboration, strategic investment, and long-term vision. Coastal BID is proud to have delivered a festive season that not only brought joy and celebration but also supported businesses, strengthened the local economy, and safeguard Bournemouth Costal BID’s districts as welcoming, attractive, year-round destinations.
Thank you to our partners, levy payers, local businesses, and the wider community for being part of this journey. We look forward to building on this success and continuing to enhance Bournemouth’s coastal offer in the year ahead.
From everyone at Bournemouth Coastal BID, we wish you a Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year.
