Thousands of awe-struck spectators lined the streets of Liverpool last night as a mile-long convoy of decorated tractors lit up the roads with twinkling fairy lights and festive tunes.
The Festive Farmers Christmas Convoy began its 28-mile circular journey from Water Farm at 6pm last night, December 18, dropping off donations for Fans Supporting Foodbanks in Stanley Park, Anfield, as it went. Now in its third year, the charity event raised more than £50,000 for Alder Hey Children's Hospital, which cares for over 330,000 children, young people and their families every year.
READ MORE: Best pictures of Liverpool Tractor Convoy ahead of Christmas 2022
Organiser Olly Harrison said: "It was probably the biggest turn-out of spectators we've ever had. The route was 28 miles and there was nowhere you couldn't see someone watching from. There was 110 tractors taking part, and at one point the convoy was a mile and a half long.
"For children, being in hospital at Christmas is pretty poor, and you can't put a price on making their day. The buzz around the hospital beforehand is amazing.
"Each one of the tractors takes five or six hours to decorate. All of them put together adds up a so many man hours. It's like building a bridge - it's nothing when it's a pile of bricks, but when it's put together, it's amazing.
"It's also nice to give something to the bits of the city that don't normally get anything. We take it right through the suburbs, and even if people can't afford to donate at least we've made their night a bit brighter."
He said the event received an overwhelmingly positive response from crowds - but that "one or two" people had complained about the bright lights and loud music passing by their homes past 9pm.
One angry person messaged Olly: "Tell your lot to shut the **** up, it's 9.30pm on a Sunday an the kids are trying to sleep, no need for the amount of noise you lot are making!"
Olly replied: "1000s of nice messages and there is always one karen", and explained to the ECHO why the event had to take place when it did.
He said: "The top and bottom of it is that the World Cup dictated the timing. We had to allow for the fact that England could be in the final, or that police could be in the city centre and wouldn't be able to get to us. So it started an hour later than we'd have liked to have done it.
"We totally agree it would've been better to set off sooner, but it's all for Alder Hey and if people don't think that's a worthy cause then it's very sad. Out of thousands of people, we've only had one or two saying it was too late, so we must have done something right."
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