Festive spirit will be flowing in Boroughbridge tonight as the town hosts its annual late-night shopping, Christmas tree lights switch-on and a visit from Santa.

The event, organised Boroughbridge and District Chamber of Trade, will see shops stay open until 8pm.

The night will begin with the official Christmas tree lights switch-on in Hall Square at 5.30pm, followed by carols from three school choirs — Boroughbridge Primary and High School and Roecliffe Primary.

Boroughbridge Lions will host Santa and his sleigh and there will be community stalls, children’s rides and a donkey and miniature horse.

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Festive food and drink will include the Scouts’ roast chestnuts and Brighter Boroughbridge’s mulled wine and mince pies stall. There will also be a hog roast.

The shop window display competition theme this year is A Christmas Panto, with entries to be judged tonight,

The lights on the Christmas tree will be switched on by BBC Radio York’s Georgey Spanswick and the Mayor, Sean Hynes.

Chamber president Derek Hufton said:

“Anyone coming along will find the town buzzing.

“There will be lots of great independent shops to browse and buy Christmas gifts from.

“Santa and his sleigh, along with the kids’ rides, will be big attractions to the younger generation. But wrap up warm!”

A Nidderdale vicar has called on parishioners to book early for Christmas services to avoid disappointment.

Places of worship are allowed to re-open today although people can only interact with their households or support bubbles, and must conform to social distancing rules.

With Advent underway and Christmas approaching, many Christians will be keen not to miss out on festive services.

The Rev. Alastair Ferneley, Vicar of Dacre with Hartwith and Darley with Thornthwaite, said the church was keen to offer comfort and joy after such a difficult year but added:

“We do need to maintain social distancing, so it is essential for people to book in advance for most of our services.

“My message is, please book sooner rather than later for the public Christmas services – not just to avoid disappointment, but also to help our planning.

“If it turns out no one wants to come to a particular service we can save a lot of time and effort on decoration, Christingles, heating, etc.”

Booking in advance for Christmas services across four Nidderdale parishes will help with planning.

The Rev. Ferneley said churches needed to consider issues such as appropriate seating for families and bubbles. He added:

“Parishioners will need to wear a face covering in church and we are sadly not able to sing as a congregation while inside, though we can offer carols sung by a few socially distanced singers and/or on CD.”

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The government has issued new guidance, saying carol singing outside can be part of public worship.

The Rev Ferneley said:

“This is difficult to plan for given the unpredictability of the weather, but we may be able to begin and end services outside so we might have a bit of a sing as part of some of these services.

“We will fully understand if people are not comfortable with coming to services at the moment, which is why we are also offering numerous online alternatives whereby people can join in our Christmas celebrations – either via a live stream or a pre-recorded service.”

For further details you can email Alastair Ferneley at irreverend@btinternet.com.