A THREE day Christmas market is coming to the town centre this weekend alongside a full range of street entertainers.

Golden Square's Old Fish Market, Buttermarket Street, the area around Warrington Market and Market Gate will be transformed into a bustling outdoor festive marketplace that you would more commonly see in city centres in November and December.

The team behind the monthly pop-up Makers Market at Queen’s Gardens have joined forces with Golden Square and Warrington Market to host the event with the entertainment funded by the BID (business improvement district), designed to promote the range of activities in the town centre.

From Friday to Sunday you can expect a bumper Christmas shopping experience with award-winning artisan food and drink producers and artists and craftspeople trading alongside independent Warrington sellers like Snoutwood Trotters.

Free entertainment is also being laid on throughout including dancing and the Jupiter pipe organ at Golden Square, family fun with Matilda the Cow and the Bursens pipe organ at Warrington Market and the Dean pipe organ at the Skittles.

Victoria Crane, event manager of the Makers Market, said: "It’s going to be a selection of Warrington and north west artisan makers, bakers, artists and designers but it's also going to be very festive.

"You can go shopping for Christmas gifts, buy handmade goods and treat yourself to a mulled wine and mince pie but you’re also going to be thoroughly entertained.

"I can’t think of another collaboration like this apart from what we do at The Lowry outlet in Salford Quays.

"The entertainment on offer is incredible. There’s going to be performers to see all over the town centre.

"It’s going to be brilliant. We’re going to be showcasing at Golden Square, at the Skittles and at Warrington Market to link it all up."

Altogether over the three days there will be around 150 traders with a slightly different offering on each day.

There will be about 60 stalls on Friday with about 80 on both Saturday and Sunday.

The Makers Market, which also runs a series of events in the likes of Manchester's Northern Quarter and Hope Street in Liverpool, launched a monthly open air market in Warrington in March which has been very successful.

Victoria added: "Warrington Makers Market has done phenomenally well. It’s one of our best for our traders and we have thousands of supporters. The success we’ve had illustrates that people enjoy markets here and there was a need for it.

"People like to talk to a specialist and we’re losing that with internet sales and things like that."

The Makers Christmas Market is in the town centre from Friday to Sunday. On Friday and Saturday the event runs from 10am to 7pm and on Sunday it is from 11am to 5pm