Town shapes up for festive switch-on

Carnival Queen Emma Hanson will be joined on stage by St Annes town mayor Coun Cheryl Little for the ceremony which follow a lantern procession featuring the youngsters of Mayfield Primary School and Santa’s sleigh.

The switch-on event, hosted by Mark Daniels in The Square from noon, is organised and run by St Annes Town Council.

Among the entertainment featured will be carols, soloists and other activities from the Ormerod and St Thomas’ School choirs and the youngsters of AKS between 2.30 and 4pm.

Ellie Goulding tribute singer Chelsea Jade and the cast of the Jack and the Beanstalk pantomime coming to Lytham’s Lowther Pavilion next month will also attend.

Darrel Treece-Birch, the town council’s town centre enterprise officer, said: “It’s sure to be a heart-warming start to Christmas and we hope to see plenty of people there.

“The event always attracts excellent crowds even in the most unpredictable of weather conditions and we are hoping for a calmer climate than the horrendous conditions which hit the coast last year.”

Elsewhere in St Annes on Saturday, the United Reformed Church Hall in St George’s Road will host a Victorian Christmas Fair, with a wide variety of stalls, between 10am and 4pm, while The Palace Rooms in Garden Street will be the venue for a craft fair and jigsaw festival from 10am to 5pm, which will include various demonstrations, including floral arrangements by Wrea Green Flower Club, and a fashion show with Edinburgh Woollen Mill and Carlla Harris Models.

St Thomas School choir will perform at 3.30pm ahead of their appearance at the lights switch-on.