The full line-up has been revealed for the 2023 Lancaster Christmas Lights Switch On hosted by Beyond Radio.
Tony Johnson, from the event organisers Lancaster BID, made the exclusive announcement on our Beyond the Headlines show on Friday.
Joining the already-announced headliners Toploader at the annual festive extravaganza in Market Square on Sunday November 26, will be:
Singing sisters Gabriella and Jasmine T (as seen on Michael McIntyre's Big Show and The Voice Kids)
Give It Some (local band)
The Manfredis (local band)
The Laura Sandham School of Dance
The Dukes Theatre (cast of Christmas show)
Lancaster Grand (cast of panto)
The Performance Studio
C and C Entertainments (local vocalists)
And as always, the event will begin with the Santa Dash in aid of Cancer Care, started off at around 1.30pm by samba drumming band Samba Espirito!
The child who raises the most sponsor money for the Santa Dash will get to join Father Christmas, the Beyond Radio team and some of the performers on stage to switch on the Market Square Christmas Lights, scheduled for around 5.15pm on the day.
The headline act on the main stage will be Toploader, best known for their global hit ‘Dancing in the Moonlight’, from their debut album ‘Onka’s Big Moka’.
The band are also known for a string of other hits including ‘Achilles Heel’, ‘Just Hold On’, and ‘Time of My Life’, and have amassed more than a billion music streams across all platforms in their career so far.
The Switch On Show marks the launch of the festive season in Lancaster with a programme of events and promotions, including the return of Lancaster On Ice, certain to draw the crowds into the city centre in the run up to Christmas.
Last year's Switch On was the biggest in the event's history.
Read more: Lancaster celebrates busiest Christmas Lights Switch On ever - Beyond Radio
Headlined by The Lancashire Hotpots, footfall in the city centre was an amazing 69.8 per cent higher than in 2021 and 14 per cent higher than the previous best year in 2015, as the crowds filled Market Square and overflowed down Market Street almost down to Horseshoe Corner.
This will be the third year running that Beyond Radio has hosted the main stage, and this year once again Greg Lambert (pictured below left, with Nathan Hill) will be announcing the acts onto stage with help from Beyond Bear and the Beyond Radio team.