Christmas Fairy Stuns Shoppers
Shoppers were more than a little startled when a festive
‘bus’ trundled across the pedestrian walkways under Liverpool One and they were
treated to a jaw-dropping impromptu performance of opera favourites– from none
other than the Christmas Fairy.
Surprise turned to delight as the soprano sprite hit the
high notes, to a storm of applause from onlookers.
The ‘walking’ bus - a team of six elves led by the Christmas
Fairy - were in Liverpool to provide a classical alternative to carols.
The busker bus, stopped crowds in their tracks as the
fairy belted out a few crowd pleasers while her elves worked the crowd to
distribute
little gifts for some and complimentary bus travel vouchers for
others.
Elsewhere around the region another walking bus, this
time headed by Father Christmas offered some tenor treats as part of the
initiative to prompt car drivers to consider taking the bus.
As crowds filmed the action on their mobile phones,
there’s since been a flurry of followers checking out the big voices from the
walking bus at #santasbuskingbus. A mini
fleet of busking buses will visit shopping hubs around the region over the weekend.
Other locations to get a visit from the operatic Santa
and Christmas Fairy-led walking buses are: Wirral, Sefton, St
Helens, Knowsley.
The initiative has been organised by the ‘Bus Alliance’ –
a new formal partnership between Merseytravel and bus operators Arriva and
Stagecoach. The aim of the Alliance is to encourage more people to
use the bus, promoting investment and further improvement of bus services.
A spokesperson for
Bus said: “We wanted to do something unexpected and fun as a treat for
shoppers. At a time when everyone is
thinking about their New Year’s resolutions, we wanted them to consider how
best to start their journey for 2016, and try the bus.”