The Christmas market attracts thousands of shoppers

The city already has a successful Christmas market, but the new proposal would see a festival running from Advent Sunday to Christmas Eve.

Lincoln City Council is carrying out the study with support from the Regional Arts Council.

If approved, officials believe the festival would be a valuable boost to the county's economy and tourism.

Rob Bradley, Lincoln's tourism manager, said: "We want to find out if there is enough activity in December to promote as a mid-winter festival, with sufficient arts and cultural activities to attract people to the city."

He said the idea is to use the existing Christmas market as a magnet to get people to visit Lincoln in December.

"If it is not feasible, then we will not go ahead - we want to see if the idea will fly or not."