BARRY officially welcomed its first covered ice rink as part of its Christmas celebrations at the weekend.

Visitors have flocked to Barry’s Ice Central, in a section of Central park, near Barry town hall, King Square.

The rink will remain in position for nine days, offering seasonal food, drinks, live music and a family-friendly skating experience.

Gates opened at 5.30pm on Saturday, just after the festive illuminations came to life in King Square, and rink operators 11th-hour events were swamped with people who couldn’t wait to get their skates on.

11th-hour director John Davies said: “We were inundated. Those who could not get onto the ice on Saturday made bookings for either the next day or later in the week.

“We had sell-out sessions all evening on Saturday, and for the best part of Sunday. In just a day and a half we have had nearly 750 people take to the ice and more than 17 skating sessions.

“All our skate staff worked flat out over the weekend, swapping shoes for skates, processing bookings and maintaining the ice.

“Uptake is good at Barry and we have lots of advance ticket sales, but we can accommodate more. There are still plenty of sessions available this week and next weekend for people to show off their skating sills at Barry’s Ice Central.”

Sarah Brown kicked off the live music entertainment at Ice Central with an acoustic blend of modern and older songs on Sunday evening.

The Acoustic Sinners will be performing in the music tent on Friday, December 2 with another act yet to be confirmed taking to the stage on Saturday, December 3.

The Four Kicks will provide the entertainment on Sunday night, December 4.

At other times a DJ will be supplying the tunes, with all music broadcast over the ice.