Christmas will be coming to Marlborough a little earlier this year, while a closure of High Street will ensure the safety of the estimated 3,500 people who flock to the Town Hall to see the Christmas lights switched on.
At a meeting between the three bodies that organise the town’s Christmas spectacle – the Town Council, which owns and manages the lights, We Love Marlborough, which organises events in the Town Hall, including Santa’s Grotto, and Marlborough Communities Market, which puts on the festive market in High Street – it was agreed that the event would move from its traditional last Thursday of November to Friday, November 21.
The date change was partly in response to a survey by We Love Marlborough, which found that a majority of parents with pre-school or school age children would prefer an event at the weekend.
The earlier date also gives traders a full month of illuminated shopping before Christmas – something for which the Chamber of Commerce had petitioned.
Tuesday’s meeting was also attended by representatives from the police and Wiltshire highways, and a road closure was agreed following concerns that spectators watching the switching-on of the Christmas lights, and pedestrians trying to reach the market stalls – which are located in the middle of High Street between two lanes of traffic – could be at risk without one.
But the High Street will not be closed until 5pm – allaying fears from traders that another road closure in the year could be detrimental to their businesses.
The closure will also allow the organisers to hold a lantern procession led by Father Christmas on his sleigh. But the parade – mayor Marian Hannaford-Dobson told the meeting – was dependent on funding from the Area Board as the Town Council’s resources are committed to the provision of the Christmas lights.
A bid is being prepared by We Love Marlborough ahead of the Area Board meeting on Tuesday, September 30.
There was also good news for shoppers and traders in the form of free parking. Parking fees will be waived on Saturdays November 29 and December 6, the meeting heard.