Christmas countdown starts this weekend with festive lights switch-on

The countdown to Christmas begins in Hackney with the cast of Jack and the Beanstalk joining the annual festive lights switch-on at the Town Hall on Saturday.

Residents are invited to celebrate the beginning of the festive season from 5:30pm, joining the Hackney Community Choir with a sing-a-long of classic Christmas carols before the main event.

Making Hackney sparkle with a flick-of-the-switch will be the Hackney Speaker, Cllr Sade Etti, and characters from the Hackney Empire panto ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’, which is running until January 3.

Hackney Speaker, Cllr Sade Etti said: “I want residents to wrap-up and head down to the Town Hall on Saturday and join me to mark the start of the festive season in the borough.

“The switch-on of the lights is great way of getting the season off to a festive start in a borough that has so many special events to choose from throughout December.”

The switch-on is just one of many special events planned throughout December at Hackney’s markets and across its town centres, including a free film screening for young people on 22 December at the Council’s BL-NK venue in Curtain Road, Shoreditch.

There will be five Christmas trees in Hackney again this year, located in each of the borough’s town centres all decked out in different decorations.

The council wants residents to give their opinion on this season’s unique designs on Twitter or Facebook using the hashtag #MakeHackneySparkle.