Festive funday! Reading’s Christmas lights switch-on date revealed

An all-new festive display is coming to Reading for Christmas 2024, as the town gets ready to switch on its Christmas lights.

Santa’s little helpers are busy installed 800,000 LED twinklers across the town centre, and the theme is Reading’s rich history.

There will be displays inspired by Henry I, Oscar Wilde, the Purple 17 bus route, and Reading Football Club.

And there will once again be a Christmas market in Broad Street, featuring food, drink and craft stalls. This runs until New Year’s Eve.

To celebrate, there will be a day of events on Saturday, November 16.

It starts at 12.30pm and continues into the evening and includes live music.

The switch-on is part of the festive season with events running through to the New Year.

They include the return of the Winter Wonderland in Hills Meadow from Saturday, November 9, and Santa’s Grotto opening in Broad Street Mall on Friday, November 22.

In December there will be some additional events.

On Saturday, December 7, the lantern parade, GLOW, will return.

And every weekend there will be live music, stilt walkers and visits from special characters including Santa on Sunday, December 22.

Other festive entertainment includes the Wellington Illuminova light trail which returns to Wellington Country Park from Friday, November 22.

Seasonal plays include Reading Rep Theatre’s The Snow Queen, which will have its opening night on Friday, November 29.

The Hexagon pantomime, Cinderella, will once again star CBeebies legend Justin Fletcher and Paul Morse. This opens on Saturday, December 7.

Reading’s Christmas fun is organised by Reading BID on behalf of town centre businesses, including more than 80 independent businesses, offering all kinds of treasures including board games, clothes, comics, cakes, food and drink.

There are also more than 250 big brands including M&S, John Lewis (Heelas), H&M, Primark and Zara.

Reading BID will be organising late night shopping nights across the pre-Christmas period.

For more information, head to visit-reading.com/Christmas, or follow @vistrdg on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.