Festive launch off with a bang

THE mayor and mayoress of Oldham join the entertainers on the stage for the big switch-on.

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DAZZLING fireworks lit up the night sky and a feast of fabulous family entertainment delighted thousands during yesterday's Christmas lights switch on.

Dancing stormtroopers Boogie Storm and kids favourites Chase and Marshall from cartoon PAW Patrol helped the mayor of Oldham Councillor Derek Heffernan flick the switch to illuminate the town centre Christmas lights.

The colour spectacular saw a crowd of around 8,000 spectators of all ages gather at Oldham's Tommyfield Market and in front of a big screen in Albion Street ready to join in the festive fun.

Hosts for the evening were cheeky elves Gary Gifford and Phillip Gregg who introduced a whole host of performers to the stage including leading Oldham youth street dance group Blaze Academy 'Exposure', hula-hooping duo the Spinarettes, and 23-year-old Royton singer Sam Glen, who performed 'On the Shoulders of Giants', the theme song for last month's launch event for the opening of the Old Town Hall.

Sam said: "I'm excited to be singing in my home town.

"This is the biggest audience I've ever played to so hopefully they enjoyed the show."

A special guest appearance from Father Christmas thrilled the crowd before the 'Britain's Got Talent' stormtroopers performed a funny and funky dance medley to a host of top tunes.

And the mayor of Oldham, accompanied by Oldham Mayoress Di Heffernan and Oldham Youth Mayor T-Jay Turner, joined the stormtroopers on stage to start the count down, switch on the Christmas lights and launch a spectacular firework display with a Christmas movie-themed musical soundtrack.

Councillor Heffernan said: "This is a great event.

"The mayor of Oldham believes in Christmas and in Father Christmas as well!

"It's lovely to see everyone here and its very special to see so many children attending.

"The magic of Christmas should be part of their lives."

Kara Melvin, from Abbeyhills, brought her three daughters and friend to watch the show.

She said: "We've been coming for the past five years and the switch on just gets better and better.

"We got here early so we could get close to the stage.

"It really gets us into the Christmas spirit."

Earlier in the day, the PAW Patrol posse and town centre mascots Ollie and Millie along with Rodney the Reindeer met with shoppers, and children enjoyed funfair rides and fairground stalls.

Sara Hewitt, town centre manager, said: "The Christmas lights switch on is one of the highlights of our events calendar and probably our biggest event of the year.

"It is organised by Oldham Council and supported by the Town Centre Partnership, who value the event and the visitors, and over 100 council staff worked hard to ensure the event went with a bang.

"I'm really pleased with the turnout and it was great to see so many families coming to see Chase and Marshall during the afternoon.

"We are holding lots of events in the run up to Christmas so we hope people come back to visit us again."

• Check out more pictures of Christmas Light Switch On on our picture sales page.