Chester's historic Christmas giants are visiting Helsby today, on what would normally be the day of the Ho Ho Helsby community festival.

Sitting outside Helsby Post Office, the huge Father Christmas and snowman figures have made the trip specially for the village's residents.

"Undeterred [by the challenges of this year], volunteers have shipped in the medieval giants to bring a huge smile to passers by," said Ho Ho Helsby's Dianne Walker.

The giants are a trace of the five centuries long history of Chester's Midsummer Watch festival, which dates back to Medieval times and garnered country-wide renown.

During the festival, a whole family of giants would be paraded through the city's streets, accompanied by all sorts of mystical creatures. fools and musicians.

This tradition was resurrected in the '80s and '90s in a project led by Dave Roberts, who describes the process of creating the giants here.

A Winter Watch was founded to join its midsummer counterpart in 1994, and from there, our Santa and snowman giants were created.

Don't forget to have your lights ready for tonight's Ho Ho Helsby's Twinkle Twinkle event, which promises to brighten up the end of a very gloomy year!