With less than a week to go, anticipation for the festive season to commence with the annual Christmas lights switch on in one North East town and this year Santa Claus himself is due to attend.

Darlington’s annual Christmas light switch-on will take place Sunday, November 19 from 4pm until 5:30pm on the Market Square, hosted by Darlington Borough Council and Love Darlo.

Metro Radio and TFM radio breakfast hosts Steve Furnell and Karen Oxley will be hosting the event and are said to be bringing plenty of fun and music to the main stage with some classic Christmas tunes to warm up the crowd.

There will also be special appearances from the cast of Darlington Hippodrome’s festive pantomime show Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

Santa Claus himself will switch the lights on with the evening ending with a short but sweet fireworks display lighting up the sky at 5:30pm.

With 500 residents set to attend and 3.8k interested on Facebook, the event is set to be jam-packed with festive cheer. 

There will also be the opportunity to pick up a free reusable hot drink cup, which will be available from Newcastle Building Society, however, be quick as they are only available whilst stocks last.

This year the event will also include an accessible viewing area for wheelchair users which will be signposted near the front area of the stage. For more information eventstream@darlington.gov.uk

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is showing at Darlington Hippodrome from December 8 to December 31 and will feature Pop Idol runner-up and Celebrity SAS winner Gareth Gates and the Chases’ Jenny “The Vixen” Ryan. Tickets are on sale at darlingtonhippodrome.co.uk

More details of the Christmas events can be found at enjoydarlington.co.uk/christmas and on the council's social media pages.