Llangollen celebrates pagan Christmas
Ian Parry, Llangollen's town clerk, said the town is trying to get back to its roots with ancient pagan Welsh traditions.
There have been fears expressed by the church that Christmas is losing its status as a Christian holiday.
Father Christmas will parade through Llangollen in his original green outfit, worn before it was changed to red by Coca-Cola and the Green Man became a pagan has-been.
Other traditions being resurrected include a day of feasting on cheese on toast, predicting the future using treacle toffee or Taffy shapes, and an appearance by the lucky pagan Mari Llwyd.
Across Wales, only one council - Wrexham - is featuring the nativity story in its official public celebrations.Caerphilly Council is celebrating Christmas with samba and carnival dance workshops. Swansea and Cardiff have outdoor skating rinks and fairground rides.
"We are trying to highlight some traditional things that should happen in a Welsh Christmas. Getting Santa back into green is just one of them."
Festival organiser Sarah Meade said, "Everything about the festive period is a hotch -potch of ancient pagan traditions and more modern marketing practices all spun together under the Christian celebration of the birth of Christ.
"It's only when you start looking a little deeper into what makes the Christmas we know and love so well that this starts to become apparent."
The town is also hosting a nativity play to go with the pagan celebrations.
The debate comes after the Church of England attacked the Royal Mail for the design of its Christmas stamps this year. The stamps exclude any Christian theme, instead they show Santa, a snowman, a Christmas tree and a reindeer.
We say "Bring on the Green Man!"
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