Alton Town Council’s Christmas lights switch-on and festive market will be held on November 21 from 3pm to 7pm.

There will be lights switch-ons outside the Assembly Rooms at 5pm and in Market Square at 5.45pm. East Hampshire District Council is offering free parking in its car parks from 3pm.

Alton will have the same Christmas lights and tree as in previous years, with extra lights in the High Street.

Families can visit Father Christmas and post their Christmas wishes free at 16 Market Square from 3.30pm to 7pm. No registration is required.

A Christmas tree and angel on stilts will be walking around the town from 4pm to 4.40pm, 5.10pm to 5.50pm and 6.20pm to 7pm.

The Christmas market will feature stalls in the Assembly Rooms, High Street, Cross and Pillory Lane, and Market Street, offering gifts, toys, a charity tombola, games, crafts and food.

In the Assembly Rooms there will be a quiet space for anyone needing a break from the festivities.

The centre of the High Street, and from M&S to Cross and Pillory Lane, will feature a funfair with rides for children of all ages. There will be Christmas music, choirs and festive performances inside and outside the Assembly Rooms and in Market Square.

Alton town mayor Cllr Annette Eyre said: “Our annual Christmas lights switch-on and market fills Alton with warmth, wonder and joy at this time of year. This event not only brightens our High Street but brings our community together.

“I would like to thank this year’s Christmas headline sponsors - HSDC Alton, Specsavers Alton, Newbury Building Society, PJ Grace and Sons, Rod Haskins Ltd and Rawlings Opticians.

“A massive thank you to Wild House Play Café for providing Father Christmas’s Grotto, YEM, The Market Hotel and the Assembly Rooms for their invaluable support.”