Free Christmas switch-on with live entertainment from Smooth Radio and a lantern parade by Surtal Arts to mark the start of Festive Derby.
Derby Market Place hosts the Christmas lights switch-on and the opening of Festive Derby on Saturday 28 November, from 5:30pm. It's the night the city centre's Christmas countdown officially kicks off, when the festive lights finally come on across the streets.
The evening is built around free live entertainment and community performances presented by Smooth Radio, with a lantern parade by Surtal Arts running alongside. That parade is the work of Surtal Arts, whose lantern-making workshops have been running across the city in the weeks leading up to the night, so the lanterns you see on the parade are made by local people. The switch-on and the parade together mark the start of Festive Derby, the city centre's Christmas countdown, when the festive lights illuminate the streets.
It's a busy night for the city centre, too: the evening coincides with the opening of the Cathedral Quarter Ice Rink, so you can head from the lights straight over to the rink. Local councillors describe the whole programme as part of the city's wider festive offering, with the switch-on and the ice rink opening both falling on the same evening.
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It's free to attend, and it all starts at 5:30pm at Derby Market Place, DE1 3AH.
