Christmas in Cirencester is always a spectacular occasion, and this year will be no different with a huge variety of events planned for the festive season.

The annual Advent Festival, which includes the highly anticipated Christmas lights switch on, will take place on Saturday 1st December, with further Christmas markets happening throughout the month.

Sarah Bartlett is the Market and Events Officer at Cirencester Town Council, and part of the team tasked with the mammoth job of organising the festivities.

She said: “Planning started in March of this year and we have been holding regular meetings since then. The team is pretty small, there are only six of us, but we have received such great support from the councillors and the local retailers, businesses and performers.

“It’s been a real joy to be on the team and things have so far run smoothly! The previous Advent teams over the years have given us a great foundation to work from and have made some fantastic relationships that we will continue to use.”

A real highlight of the month will be the selection of different markets around the town, which have been rated as among the top 10 Christmas markets in the country.

Sarah continued: “We have our Christmas Arts and Crafts Market being held on the Market Place, and our Advent Market will be situated along Cricklade Street and Castle Street. The majority of our Traders are local and within a 30-mile radius, but some come from as far as Cornwall!

“We’ve got some great street food and drink caterers attending, fair rides for the children, some brilliant live stage performances and also some pop-up performances taking place throughout the town. Santa of course will also be attending!”

For the important task of switching on the town’s Christmas lights, Sarah and her team have kept it local, with the ringmistress of local company Gifford’s Circus set to join the crowds at the Advent Festival.

“In honour of the 250th anniversary of the Circus, this year we are very pleased to welcome Nell Gifford to turn on our lights. Nell is local to the area, her headquarters are based in Stroud, and after their recent visit to perform in Cirencester–which was fantastic–we can’t wait to welcome her back.”

The host of different Christmas markets will run on selected dates between 1st-22nd December, and after all the months of planning, and all the work yet to come, Sarah believes it will be worth it in the end.

She said: “We feel that we have a unique setting with the beautiful Parish Church and Market Place, although maybe we are a little biased as we think Cirencester is such a beautiful town! We also have a great community spirit which I have certainly seen from all the help and support we have been offered and from the volunteers that have stepped forward.

“For the community, I think it gives us an opportunity to all come together as a town but also welcome others in and show what a wonderful town and spirit we have.”