A shopping trip to Bluewater will be a brighter prospect this Christmas as it opens its exhibition centre, Glow.

With two halls and a private gallery area, the new venue has given Kent’s biggest shopping destination another 5,200 sq m of space.

Fans of the cinema and TGI Friday have dealt with a series of unsightly boards and temporary walls over the past two years, but they will be a distant memory come opening day on Wednesday, November 30.

Accessed via a new plaza, Glow took near two years to build at a cost of £60m. Bluewater already attracts 28 million visitors a year – half a million a week – with Glow designed to host fashion, lifestyle and homewares events and exhibitions.

It will open its doors with the Spirit of Christmas, an exhibition with 250 suppliers selling gourmet food, jewellery, fashion, homewares and children’s gifts. Spirit of Christmas runs to Sunday, December 4.

Then Christmas in New York will bring festive cheer to the plaza outside from Thursday, December 9, until Sunday, January 8. There will be an ice rink, a snow slide and free Santa’s grotto, making Bluewater a winter’s day out for the family. The New York skyline of the Rockefeller Centre, Empire State Building and Statue of Liberty will welcome visitors.

Running at the same time inside Glow, the Festive Food Fair will help families bring artisan food and drink to the table this Christmas Day.

It will run from Thursday, December 8, to Sunday, December 11.

For those who are a little less organised, the Last Minute Gift Fair will lend a helping hand to anyone looking for something a bit different, from Thursday, December 15, to Sunday, December 18.

Tickets for the ice rink at Christmas in New York cost £12, in advance £10, children £10, in advance £8, ages four to seven £6, in advance £5, families £38, in advance £32. Details on 0844 858 6758.