Coca-Cola Christmas Truck Tour brings crowds flocking to Gateshead
The holidays are coming - see 36 images and and video of the iconic Coca -Cola Christmas Truck during Sunday's visit to Metrocentre. Can you spot anyone you know?
Conjuring up that famous slogan 'the holidays are coming', the Coca-Cola Christmas Truck Tour brought huge excitement to Gateshead on Sunday morning when it stopped off on its UK tour.
The giant 6.5 metre-long red truck, whose lights are seen to best advantage when it starts to get dark, rolled into town and arrived outside the Metrocentre for a six-hour stay starting at 11am and accompanied by Christmas music and giveaways of the popular drink. News of the visit was only announced the morning before - as the company drip-feeds the locations of its tour stop-offs - but crowds turned up to welcome it.
The annual tour of the 13-tonne illuminated red truck, which is seen by many to mark the official start of Christmas, is a regular visitor to the region, having visited the Metrocentre previously as well as the likes of the the car park at Asda in Boldon. Organisers have yet to say whether any more local visits are planned for the current tour.
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Adding to the festive atmosphere on Sunday were Christmas tree displays, staff in Santa hats, immersive entertainment and singers from The Gospel Touch Choir. This is the third of 17 stops across the country for the 2023 tour.
The Coca-Cola truck first appeared in Coca-Cola’s Holidays Are Coming advert 28 years ago.
Tracey Hall and daughters Ava and Rosie having their festive snap taken
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Crowds were there to welcome the truck
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Singers from The Gospel Touch Choir entertaining the crowds
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Sophie and Liam Holdon and their baby daughter April
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Helen Jackson with daughters Rosie, Ellie and Daisy; grandson Teddy and son-in-law Matty Burton
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There was plenty of festive atmosphere adding to the mood
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Helen Jackson with daughters Rosie, Ellie and Daisy, grandson Teddy and son-in-law Matty Burton
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All ages enjoyed the experience
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In the hope of delivering acts of kindness to those most in need, Coca-Cola has partnered with giving platform Neighbourly, which provides support to local communities across the UK. The two companies are aiming to support local communities across the cities on the Coca-Cola Truck Tour through a volunteering scheme and donation drive.
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Coca-Cola has partnered up on the tour with Neighbourly, which provides support to local communities across the UK, to launch a volunteering scheme and donation drive
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Florence Wheatley, brand manager at Coca-Cola Company, said: "Coca-Cola has been spreading Christmas cheer for decades and, this year, we’ve added even more exciting elements to make it as magical and merry as possible."
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A crowd gathered round to see the truck
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Many queued up to get their picture taken
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Singers from The Gospel Touch Choir entertain the crowds
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The front of the iconic red truck
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The Gospel Touch Choir in action
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It's starting to feel Christmassy
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