Cumberland Council is encouraging residents to shop local this Christmas season.
In collaboration with several town councils, the local authority has organised a range of Christmas-themed events aimed at bringing in visitors and highlight the variety of shops and traders in the region.
These festivities are designed to go hand-in-hand with several markets that will see the participation of traders from the area.
Some of these markets include the Carlisle Christmas Markets, held today and December 13, and regular weekly markets in Cumberland, which takes place in Carlisle on Fridays, Keswick on Thursdays and Saturdays, Wigton on Fridays, and Workington on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
Carlisle Market Hall is hosting a special Festive Day today (Saturday, December 6), and Cockermouth will be bustling with the return of the popular Taste Cumbria Market this weekend.
Elsewhere in Carlisle, the much-loved Christmas open-air themed bar will be serving festive drinks in the city centre every day until the evening of December 14.
Also today, Rock With will be providing live entertainment, and there will be plenty of festivities outside the Old Town Hall where the Carlisle Vineyard Church will be hosting a Santa's Grotto.
Over in Cockermouth, the Taste Cumbria Christmas festival is kicking off today and set to conclude tomorrow, December 7.
The town will transform into a Christmas hub with stalls selling goods made by local traders, festive street theatre, and live music performances.
Father Christmas will be in his grotto today from 11am, and Cockermouth's independent shops will have lanterns at their doorways while pubs and eateries will serve various festive treats.
Cumberland Council is aiming to support these events by offering free parking in various towns on specific dates.
The car parks with free parking on certain dates are: Keswick's Central car park from 7am - 7pm on Sunday 7 December to aid the Victorian Fayre, Cockermouth's Bitterbeck, Riverside, All Saints, Memorial Gardens and Sullart Street car parks from 4pm to 7pm on Thursday 11 December to promote late-night shopping, and Chapel Street car park in Egremont for the whole day on Sunday 7 December to support the Christmas Winter Wonderland event.
On Thursday, December 11, free parking is available after 3pm in Carlisle's Bitts Park, Lowther Street, Castle, Caldew Riverside, The Sands, Swifts Bank, Viaduct, and West Walls car parks to coincide with late-night shopping.
Details about more events in the Cumberland area and information about Small Business Saturday can be found on the 'Discover Carlisle' and 'Western Lake District' websites or the 'Small Business Saturday UK' website respectively.