Thousands gather for Newbury Christmas lights switch on

Tens of thousands of people visited Newbury town centre to see the Christmas Lights Switch-On on Saturday.

The event celebrated a record attendance, and organisers are already promising an even “bigger and better” event next year.

The event was followed by an official after party at Newbury Racecourse, featuring a live DJ set by Denise Van Outen, who helped Mayor of Newbury Andy Moore switch the lights on.

Newbury BID CEO Trish Willetts said: “It was wonderful. It was so lovely to have all our musicians on our stage from Newbury and everyone dancing in the Market Place.

“All the lovely artisan markets traders said it had been the best market they had traded at.

“Thank you Newbury for celebrating with us. It was absolutely worth it to see everyone’s smiling faces.”

And in response to claims that the Market Place was too crowded, she added: “We didn’t have any reports on the night.

“Public safety is really important to us. That’s why we brought our own security team in with CCTV.

“So, if there were any incidents, we got it on CCTV, because the unit was right in the middle of the Market Place by own sound gazebo.

“We’ll certainly be looking at that moving forward.”

Following Saturday’s festivities, Sunday saw the return of the Christmas Vegan Market, the second instalment of the event this year.

Other upcoming festive events include a night-time Christmas Market from 10am until 8pm in Northbrook Street on December 13 and 14.

And the town’s annual Lantern Parade organised by the Corn Exchange Theatre will be returning on December 15.

More details on both events to follow soon.