THE town Christmas tree was this morning, Sunday, November 17, placed in the Town Square ahead of the Christmas in Crediton Lights Switch-On event on Saturday, November 30.
The giant 30ft tree was put up by Roger Lee and Roger Pennington, no mean feat and a lot of hard work.
The tree was supplied by Roger Lee from Sandford and has been paid for thanks to generous sponsorship by Ernest Jackson.
It will be decorated with lighting over the next few days by local electricians who will also be putting up the lights at the Green, on some of the shop and business fronts and in other parts of the town.
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The Light Switch-On event will see more food stalls and more entertainment than ever before.
The event will begin at 1pm and run to 6pm with the Lights Switch-On at 5pm.
Santa will be there in his free grotto near the free children’s activities.
There will be a much-improved sound system that will play music around the Town Square and along the High Street.
The stage will be much bigger this year as well and the hugely-popular band Beatnix will perform.
Rob Pudner of Entertainingly Different will be attending as Jack Frost with his snow machine, there will be free music sessions from Jam Babies in the square and there will be the lantern parade which will take a new route this year.
Children are encouraged to go along and spot their lantern and carry it in the parade or they can take a torch or one of their own lanterns.
All children are invited to take part in the lantern parade.
School choirs will be performing during the afternoon, which is always popular.
There will be two bars and the increase in food stalls includes street food, Polish street food, vegan food, Gin, Beer, fudge, craft stalls, cakes, Gelato (not ice cream!) and so much more.
The Town Council is running a Children’s Christmas Card competition and entries can be made online or during the day in Crediton Town Square.
Entry forms can also be obtained from the Town Council office.
Forms are also being delivered to some local schools.There will be two age groups.
There will be a Children’s Competition, a Star Hunt during the afternoon on November 30.Forms will be available from Santa’s Grotto.
Jo Davey, on behalf of Crediton Town Council, said: “This year will be slightly different.The Christmas in Crediton event will be longer, louder, with more to see, do and eat than ever before.
“We have some fantastic entertainment, the Parade starting in North Street because we will have stalls in Market Street.”
Jo thanked the sponsors, Crediton Dairy, Ernest Jackson and Hedgerow Print as well as other town businesses for their support.These include Adams Home Hardware, Helmores, Hotchkiss Warburton, Nikki Blanchford, Revive, The Ship Hotel and Crediton Chamber of Commerce as well as Crediton Town Council.