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Dec 03
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Friargate’s Festive Season Guide

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If you’re in the Preston area over the next few months make sure you grab your coat and head to the city for some unmissable experiences. From markets to live shows there’s plenty of things to do this festive season in the Preston area.

Here are some of our top suggestions:

Markets and shopping

Festive Shopping Evening | Lime Bar Lounge

5 DECEMBER 2018

Come along for a spot of Christmas shopping from local businesses as well as some festive drinks and nibbles. This is located Penwortham, Preston

Christmas Craft and Food Fair | UCLan Students’ Union

6 DECEMBER 2018

As well as a great way to get in some Christmas shopping, this craft and food fair also has plenty of tasty snacks and drinks as well as a free winter wonderland event once all the shopping is over.

Etsy Lancashire Christmas Market | People’s Production Lab

8 DECEMBER 2018

Browse the stalls for some one-of-a-kind gifts and homeware before enjoying refreshments, street food, and Christmas entertainment.

Christmas Fair | Town House Coffee and Brew Bar

8 DECEMBER 2018

Find some great gifts and Christmas decorations created by local artists.

Live shows

Cinderella | Charter Theatre

6 DECEMBER 2018 TO 3 JANUARY 2019

It isn’t Christmas without a family pantomime and this year a magically festive performance of Cinderella is taking to the stage in Preston. Follow the iconic fairytale of rags to riches, with Jade Natalie taking the title-role and Phil Walker stepping into the shoes of Buttons.

Alladin | Worden Park

3 JANUARY 2019

ITS PANTOMIME TIME! Aladdin the traditional family pantomime, lots of fun, frolics and rhyme. Bring all the family for a fab, fun time! The Genie and the Magic Lamp, Aladdin is a hero and the champ. The Genie is set free after doing his best, book your tickets NOW if you wish to know the rest!

Other

Head into Manchester for the UK’s best Christmas Markets!

A 40 minute direct train from Preston to Manchester to witness the cities award-winning Christmas Markets offering mouth-watering international food, drinks and delicately crafted Yuletide gifts in the heart of this buzzing city. The main hub is at the Town Hall but there are markets scattered throughout the city as well as ice skating rinks.

Santa cruises | Riley Green Marina

8 DECEMBER TO 15 DECEMBER 2018

Raising funds for charity, these two festive boat trips are one hour long and include tea, coffee, mulled wine and mince pies for adults and sweets and soft drinks for children. For more information visit the Facebook page.

Christmas FestEVIL | Blackburn

14 DECEMBER 2018

Wreck the halls’ this Christmas season as Scare Kingdom Scream Park presents its annual Christmas FestEVIL event on December 14th and 15th 2018. Featuring 3 scare attraction experiences, Christmas FestEVIL is the ultimate alternative holiday treat for fearless families, thrill-seeking adrenaline junkies and courageous kids!

Staying in Manchester? Check out our guide to all things festive in central Manchester.

Friargate is perfectly situated between the UCLan campus and Preston’s city centre. Breaking new ground in luxury student accommodation in Preston with its décor and specification, step into the atmosphere of a boutique hotel and be reassured that you are in the best possible environment when studying away from home.

Oct 28
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Halloween takeover at Friargate!

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Our Preston-based student accommodation – Friargate Court – is spreading the festive-scare this October…

The team at Friargate love to celebrate Halloween and take pride in sharing this celebration with their residents.

Take a look at their work:

Keep any eye out for the next seasonal redecoration: Christmas!

 

Happy Halloween…

Nov 11
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How Preston is gaining a global reputation for education excellence

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Congratulations from everyone at Friargate Court to The University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) after its rising global reputation received yet another really big boost.

We are delighted to see that the Preston-based university has been named in the Best Global Universities Rankings 2017 for the first time in its history.

UCLan been recognised among the world’s top 1,000 universities in the table, which was published by the American media organisation US News and World Report. UCLan is the 64th highest ranking UK institution and is 908th overall.

And it is the first time UCLan has appeared in the prestigious league table, which ranks institutions from more than 60 countries based on 12 indicators that assess their academic research performance and their global and national reputations.

The Portergate team here at Friargate Court, in Preston’s University Quarter, is also gaining its own international reputation just weeks after we opened the doors of the £18million development to students.

And we are also pleased to report that our new concept in hotel class accommodation is already attracting widespread interest from international students from across the globe – including China, Malaysia, the Gulf and the Middle East.

Richard Taylor, director of Martin & Co, our appointed Preston agents for the 244-room residence, has told us: “We’re seeing tremendous interest in Friargate Court from across the world.

“We were contacted by families in Jordan just last week and we’ve had student enquiries from Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Bahrain as well as China and Malaysia. There is a real buzz about what Portergate has brought to the city.”

There’s also a real buzz around its university campus. In the league table rankings UCLan scored highly in the ‘Books’ category, for the number of books produced by academics.

It also figured highly in the ‘Normalised Citation Impact’ section, which is measured by the total number of citations per academic paper.

The quality of research produced from ‘Space Science’ courses such as astronomy and astrophysics was highlighted at number 164 in the rankings table, according to a report on UCLan’s own website.

Vice-Chancellor Professor Mike Thomas told the website: “It’s positive news that we’ve broken into this list for the first time in our history.

“It’s a great achievement to be named among the world’s top higher education institutions and one we’re very proud of.

“This year we have featured in four major global world rankings and this is very encouraging for us. It shows the strides the university community is taking are being recognised across the world.”

This latest accolade follows on from UCLan’s recent excellent success in the The World University Rankings, QS World Rankings and the Centre for World University Rankings when it was named in the top 3.7% of all worldwide universities.