Town Centre The Focal Point For Christmas Lights Switch On

Plans for the Beverley Christmas Lights Switch on have been released with the focus of the event being staged around the centre of Beverley at the Market Cross.

While the main lights in the town centre will already be illuminated, the Beverley Lions Christmas Tree on the Market Cross will be switched on to officially mark the start of the festive period in the historic market town.

Beverley’s Church Lads and Church Girls’ Brigade will the event underway while CBBC ‘Officially Amazing’ presenter Ben Shires, The Mayor of Beverley, Cllr Ann Willis and Bill Rice light up the tree.

Prue Blake from the Beverley Christmas Lights Appeal said shoppers and visitors can expect more lights this year, she said;

“We are really excited to welcome back Ben Shires. When he was here last time the children loved meeting him.”

“The main lights will already be switched on. We looked into purchasing a switch so we could have an ‘Oxford Street Style’ switch on but it was just too expensive.”

“We have also had to axe the parade due to the terror threats. To have a parade we would need to have employed stewards, a cost we just cannot justify.”

“Instead we have invested money in more lights to brighten up the town centre over the festive period. We have got some new Snow Flakes that will be installed on Toll Gavel.”

“With the money, we have raised and some support from Beverley Town Council we have been able to test around 100 brackets meaning we can put up more lights.”

“As a group, we have cut our cloth accordingly and decide how to spend the money by deciding on what is important. We think increasing the volumes of lights is important.”

On the night children from local schools will be presented with prizes for the annual drawing competition held by the group with a total of 20 awards being handed out.

Throughout the evening children will also have the chance to meet the main man himself with Father Christmas making an appearance in his sleigh in the town centre.

Organisers say that this year the Beverley Christmas Lights Switch is not linked to proceedings at the out of town retail park, Flemingate.  

A little under a mile away from the main hub of the event, in Saturday Market, the highlight of their event will be a firework display.

Beverley Lions Market Cross Tree Switch on will get underway at 5.30PM on Thursday  23 November with the event scheduled to end at 7PM.