CHRISTMAS is coming to West Berkshire and North Hampshire this weekend with the switch on of three towns’ lights.
Father Christmas will join Newbury’s mayor Kuldip Singh Kang and three local competition winners to flick the switch in Newbury’s Market Place tomorrow (Friday).
Carols will be performed by Watership Brass Band and Father Christmas’ procession along Northbrook Street to the Market Place will leave Newbury Methodist Church at 4.30pm.
The procession will be led by the town crier, three stilt walkers and a group of children from the Dragon Club at Speenhamland School and Father Christmas will be accompanied in his sleigh by the three art competition winners, along with Newbury’s carnival queen, Jenny Moorcroft and her attendant, Ellie Bridger-Wilkinson.
The switch-on of the lights, provided by Millenium Quest and funded by the town council, will then take place at about 5pm.
Later tomorrow night children’s television presenter, Jamie Rickers, will light up Tadley.
Decorative Christmas lights will also be turned on in the streets at the same time - a first for the town.
Jamie Rickers, one of the presenters on CITV’s Toonattik, and who is also starring as Buttons in the Christmas production of Cinderella at the Anvil theatre, Basingstoke, will turn on the tree lights at 7.15pm, at an Ambrose Allen centre event, in Franklin Avenue.
On Saturday evening adventurer and local resident Bear Grylls will turn on the Hungerford lights.
The event will take place on the steps of the town hall at 4.30pm, in an event that will cost around £23,000.
Newburytoday’s cameras and the NWN photographers will be out in force at all the events and you can enjoy reliving the moments in our video reports on newburytoday.co.uk next week.
There will also be special picture galleries on the website over the weekend so don’t forget to log on and see if our photographers snapped you enjoying the festivities at all three events.