It’s not Christmas until … Santa’s elves arrive at Fort Kinnaird!

Santa’s elves have arrived at Fort Kinnaird ready to deliver mischief and merriment to shoppers throughout the festive season.

The elves will kick-off celebrations today at 1pm, where they’ll lead a fun and energetic ‘Elf n Fitness’ workout for local kids. It’s the perfect chance for children to get into festive fancy dress, or simply come along and join in the fun, for the 20-minute session in the plaza area between then playpark and TGI Fridays. 

In the run-up to Christmas, the elves will be paying shoppers at Fort Kinnaird plenty of visits, spreading the festive cheer with their random acts of kindness, as well as some extra special surprises (see below*).

Visitors are encouraged to snap an ‘Elfie Selfie’ with either one of the real elves, or one of the small hidden plush elf toys and life-size elf, which will be stationed at a different spot each week – by using the hashtag #ElfAtFortKinnaird  on Instagram and Twitter to automatically be entered into a draw to win a £250 gift card.

Amongst all the fun, Fort Kinnaird is also encouraging shoppers to give back to those in need this festive season, naming Forth 1 Mission Christmas Appeal as its official community Christmas partner. A number of donation points located within Fort Kinnaird have been set-up where visitors can leave a small gift which can be passed onto the charity – the locations are outside the Management office, Wilko, Marks & Spencer, Boots and Hobbycraft.

Liam Smith, centre manager at Fort Kinnaird said: “They might be cheeky, but our elves are full of fun and there’s nothing they like more than spreading Christmas cheer.

“Over the past few weeks we’ve welcomed a range of new retailers in time for Christmas, including Tessuti, Office and Goldsmiths, to add to our wide retailer offering for everyone to enjoy over the festive period along with our restaurants and leisure outlets.

“Christmas is one of our favourite times of the year at Fort Kinnaird and we’re looking forward to welcoming everyone down over the coming weeks in the run up to the big day!”

Fort Kinnaird will have extended late-night opening hours in the lead-up to Christmas, but individual stores will vary. For more information, please visit the website.

* Elves activation days from 11am – 4pm on the following dates:

• Sunday 24^th November
• Saturday 30^th November
• Sunday 1^st December
• Saturday 7^th December
• Sunday 8^th December
• Saturday 14^th December
• Sunday 15^th December
• Saturday 21^st December
• Sunday 22^nd December.