Traders and community groups welcomed shoppers and visitors to Abingdon’s annual Christmas Extravaganza, which brought together entertainment, a parade, a market, and the Christmas lights switch-on.

The day began wet — a good excuse to visit somewhere indoors, such as the St Helen’s Christmas Fair, also taking place during the morning.

Or the Preloved clothes sale in the Guildhall, thanks to One-Planet Abingdon.

By the time the parade was ready to set off at 12 noon the rain had stopped. (These are members of Abingdon Drama Club who will be performing The Snow Queen in January.)

The parade was led by the Oxford Caledonian Pipers, followed by Amanda Alder’s Dance Academy; Guides and Brownies; the cast of Beauty and the Beast from the Cornerstone in Didcot;

the Abingdon Traditional Morris Dancers;

Abingdon Town Council;

Abingdon Music Centre;

and finally Father Christmas, brought to us by the Abingdon Lions. He had a grotto outside Poundland for the rest of the day.

The parade route was closed for about twenty minutes, and the parade participants ended up in the carpark behind Bury Street where I took this picture of members of the Beauty and the Beast cast with the Mayor and Town Councillors.

Bath Street was closed for the craft market, with performances running there throughout the day, as well as on the Market Place.

The final act on the Market Place was Courtney Reddy performing as Avril Lavigne.

Then Duncan Brown led the traditional countdown from 10 to 0, the Mayor pressed the red button, and the Christmas lights came on instantly.

There was a prize for the most festive market stall. There was no prize for the most festive shop front but plenty of good competition. This is Fabulous Flowers.

The Extravaganza was organised by the Abingdon Events Partnership with sponsorship from lots of local businesses including the Bury Street precinct, Fairacres Retail Park, Missing Bean cafe and Wenn Townsend accountants.

Here is a video of the Parade and the Oxford Caledonian Pipe Band:

Here are the lights being switched on: