Worthing to host free Christmas tree lights switch-on and festive market

Worthing Borough Council has organised the events to ‘bring the community together, encourage town centre footfall and support local businesses’.

The town's Christmas tree, funded by Hemiko, will be unveiled and lit up on Friday, November 20. Festivities will begin at 5pm with an opening by Worthing town crier Bob Smytherman, before the official lights switch-on at 5.30pm.

Live entertainment and Christmas music will continue until 7pm, with performances at Montague Gardens from Heene Sign Choir and Andy's Angels Choir, as well as a sing-along with local singer Laura Vane. The cast of this year's pantomime, Puss in Boots, will also make an appearance.

A second festive event will take place on Friday, December 18, with an evening market running from 4.30pm to 8pm. Visitors can browse a variety of fo o d, drink and gift stalls in Portland Road, and Montague Gardens will host live music from folk singers, local youth bands and DJs.

In addition to these events, last year’s knitted Christmas installation by community organisation Storm's Make n Munch group of knitters and crocheters will be back on display at Worthing Town Hall at the end of November.

The festive events form part of the council’s Pride in Worthing initiative to bring together council teams, partners, businesses, community groups and residents behind one shared ambition - creating a cleaner, greener Worthing that reflects the pride people already have in the town.

Council leader Caroline Baxter said: “One of my priorities as leader is to make Worthing a place we can all be proud of, with a lively town centre where people want to spend time and support local businesses.

“That's what Pride in Worthing is all about. The opening of Montague Gardens showed how this new space can bring people together and breathe new life into our town centre. I'm delighted we're building on that with free Christmas events this year.

“A huge thank you to Hemiko for sponsoring our Christmas tree and helping bring some festive magic to Worthing. It's fantastic to see local businesses working hard to make Christmas special, and we're pleased to support Worthing BID's work promoting our town centre businesses throughout the festive season.”