THE Swanage Christmas lights will be switched on during a special event on Saturday, November 29.

Residents are expected to turn out in their droves for the festival annual event, which will see the town lit up with the help of Cllr Cherry Bartlett, who will be doing the honours at 4.30pm.

Once the town has been illuminated with thousands of pretty lights, the winners of Swanage Railway’s Christmas Raffle Draw will be revealed at 4.45pm.

Gary Parslow from Swanage Chamber of Trade & Commerce says that in conjunction with the event, businesses across the town will be staying open for longer to allow people to do their Christmas shopping in the afternoon.

He said: “To coincide with the Christmas Lights switch on, local shops have extended their opening hours for you to have the opportunity to visit and pick up that perfect Christmas present.

“Christmas is a magical time of year with lots of festive events and beautiful shops to enjoy in Swanage.

“Many shops will be offering special deals on the day and hopefully after the big switch on, people will have time to visit some of our unique independent shops.

“For anyone who fancies some live music later on, you can visit the White Horse, White Swan, Anchor and the British Legion, who all have music on in the evening.

“So please join us and support Swanage, enjoy the Christmas lights and let’s get the town centre buzzing this Christmas.”

Just a week later, Swanage Rotary Club will be opening their Swanage Christmas Market, offering home produce, crafts and gifts which will be held in Station Road and Commercial Lane, from 10am.