A free children’s ice rink will be among the attractions at Stevenage’s Roaring Meg Retail & Leisure Park whilst you do your Christmas shopping this year.

The Comet: Visit Roaring Meg for your Christmas shoppingVisit Roaring Meg for your Christmas shopping (Image: Supplied by Roaring Meg)

Trying to do the Christmas shopping with children in tow is no joke.

However, Christmas is made easy at Roaring Meg Retail & Leisure Park this year – with stacks of things to do while you look for those all-important gifts for loved ones.

Easily accessible from Junction 7 of the A1(M), the Stevenage retail and leisure park has a fun-packed programme of seasonal activities for all the family to enjoy in the run-up to Christmas Day.

If you are looking for festive things to do, then Roaring Meg has something for everyone, with free parking, a flagship new Debenhams store – and a free children’s ice rink.

The Comet: There will be a free ice rink at Roaring Meg Retail & Leisure Park in Stevenage this Christmas for youngsters to enjoyThere will be a free ice rink at Roaring Meg Retail & Leisure Park in Stevenage this Christmas for youngsters to enjoy (Image: Roaring Meg)

Running from Thursday, December 21 to Christmas Eve, Sunday, December 24, the synthetic ice rink is free to all children under the age of 12 and this includes skate hire.

It will be open from 11am until 6pm each day.

The rink will be located in the retail park’s central space, outside the Toys R Us store where parents can buy their children the latest must-have toys and games for Christmas.

If your youngsters are the creative types, Hobbycraft is also nearby for those Xmas gifts.

But that’s not all, with Christmas events for kids and toddlers aplenty ahead of the big day.

Families will be able to immerse themselves in all the festive fun at Roaring Meg where there will be a host of Christmas guests and free activities.

On Thursday, December 21, visitors will be able to have their photos taken with a life-size walkabout snowman, who will be meeting the crowds from 2pm until 6pm.

Christmas-themed stilt walkers will be making their way round the Stevenage retail park, adding a touch of sparkle on Friday, December 22 from 1pm until 5pm.

If music is more your thing, then on Saturday, December 23, from 2pm until 5pm, shoppers can enjoy some wonderful wintery sounds courtesy of a live saxophonist who will be playing a host of Christmas classics in the retail park.

Roaring Meg will also welcome the singing Bombshells on Christmas Eve, which promises to spread Yuletide cheer to everyone. They will be performing from noon until 3pm.

If you are feeling a little thirsty after all that fun and excitement, then pop in for a refreshing drink in Roaring Meg’s Costa Coffee or indulge in a selection of fancy pastries and cakes in the Patisserie Valerie café inside the largest Debenhams store in Hertfordshire.

Throughout the Christmas period, Roaring Meg Retail & Leisure Park is offering free parking to all its customers, making it even easier to pop down and grab those last bits of shopping.

With so many fantastic shops to choose from, including the flagship Debenhams store, Roaring Meg offers the perfect Christmas shopping experience.

The massive Debenhams opened to great fanfare earlier this year and is already a firm favourite with customers from Stevenage and further afield in Hertfordshire.

Offering quality women’s, men’s and kid’s clothes, beauty products, jewellery, furniture, electricals, gifts and much more, you’re sure to find the perfect present for every member of the family. In fact, it has Christmas all wrapped up.

As well as Debenhams, there’s also Boots, an Argos and Currys PC World at the Roaring Meg, giving plenty of top-name brands to choose from.

Christmas shopping can be hungry work. As well as the popular Costa Coffee next to Hobbycraft, there’s an excellent range of eateries available at the Roaring Meg.

If you want to satisfy your flame-grilled peri-peri chicken fix, there’s a Nando’s in Stevenage’s new Debenhams.

The retail park situated between Great North Road and London Road also has a Burger King, Pizza Hut and Harvester to please hungry youngsters after a fun Christmas day out shopping.

With free parking and just one mile away from the A1(M), coupled with free ice skating for the kids, Roaring Meg is the perfect family shopping experience over the Christmas period.

So skate along to Roaring Meg Retail & Leisure Park for some Christmas cheer and all your present needs.

• For more information, visit www.roaringmegshoppingpark.co.uk/