Christmas lights switch-on: Darwen celebrates with K-Klass

When thinking of Christmas, most people turn towards Micheal Bublé or Frank Sinatra – not 90s dance collective K-Klass.

And I was hesitant as to whether they could get me feeling festive.

Did they succeed? No. Did I have a fantastic time? Yes.

It is not your traditional Christmas lights switch on, but that is what made it so special and frankly no one was bothered.

Instead, seemingly the whole town came out to bring in the seasonal celebrations in style, with people of all ages rocking out in the town square.

And there was plenty more on offer, with a fully festive market and food stalls, stocked with stocking fillers or some nice winter warmers.

For those looking for a more traditional experience, the day was also jam-packed with local talent, including the Preston Handbell Ensemble, Ice Glitz Christmas Characters and a helta-skelta.

Residents also took full advantage of the full day's line-up on the main stage, with showcases from Darwen School of Music, Lancashire Dance Academy, Zoe Taylor Dance Academy, Paul Stuart Dacie and Darwen Amateur Theatrical Society.

Susan McLeod had thought about spending her birthday away from Darwen, but when she saw K-Klass on the lineup she couldn’t think of a better place to spend it.

Susan Mcleod and her friend Michelle Wild (Image: NQ) She said: “We have had a really good time. It is the best atmosphere in Darwen at any lights switch on I have been to.

“It is our era. We could have been somewhere else tonight because something is going on. We thought K-Klass, our era, we are staying in Darwen!”

Local musician Jordan Riding thought that K-Klass were an amazing option for the night and really got people going in the build-up the Christmas.

Jordan Riding and his friend (Image: NQ) He said: “We came before the lights came on, K-Klass were great. We have had some lovely food there is lots of people down and it is good for the town.

“We had N-Trance last year, which is all good and it gets people going and you can’t argue with that.”

And despite missing the line switch-on Paul Hackett and Natasha Stonefield still thought it was a great day out, taking full advantage of the food stalls.

Paul Hackett and Natasha Stonefield (Image: NQ)

Paul said: “We have loved it. We had only been here for 45 minutes, and we walked through the stalls and had a beer. It is nice, lovely and busy.”

Nick didn’t just enjoy his time at the event but also thought it was great for the town and increasing footfall and was nice to see the community come together.

He said: “I have really enjoyed it, we have come down obviously there are a lot of people here and it has filled the town centre.

“It is bigger and better than last year, it is lovely with all the stalls and we are tucking into some mulled wine.”