Dartford gets ready for festivities as Big Christmas Switch On and other events return

Dartford’s Big Christmas Switch On is ready to kick off a busy festive season of events in the town.

Orchard Theatre pantomime stars Bobby Davro, Regan Gascoigne and George Shelley will all be appearing on November 19th to help light up the town for Christmas.

They’ll be joined on stage by The Worshipful the Mayor of Dartford Cllr Paul Cutler, Father Christmas and this year’scolouring competition winner to turn on the lights at around 5:20pm.

Visitors will be able to see Britain’s Got Talent finalist Tom Ball sing live, while Netflix’s Heartstopper actor Robbie White will also be performing, along with Madness tribute band Los Palmas 6, and a Taylor Swift tribute.

The free event will start at 1pm with a colourful array of talented street performers courtesy of event partners Cohesion Plus. In addition to the street performers, there will be further entertainment on stage in Brewery Square which will begin at 2:30pm. The full programme for the day is as follows:

• 2.30pm David Ribi

• 2.35pm Robbie White

• 3.10pm Cohesion Plus Dhol Drummers

• 3.25pm Taylor Swift Tribute 

• 4.00pm The Los Palmas 6 (Madness Tribute)

• 4.30pm Tom Ball

• 5.00pm Orchard Theatre Panto Stars

• 5.10pm The Worshipful Mayor of Dartford

• 5.20pm The Big Christmas Lights Switch On

We would like to thank the following organisations who have generously supported this year’s Big Christmas Switch On: Dartford Borough Council – Orchards Shopping Centre – The Priory Shopping Centre – The Orchard Theatre – Sainsbury’s – Lollipops – Dartford Markets – Dartford Messenger – Aldi – Cohesion Plus.

The Big Christmas Switch On kicks off Dartford Borough Council’s festive calendar. Details about Santa’s House (26^th & 27^th November and 3^rd & 4^th December), Santa’s Tour (4^th, 11^th, 18^th, 19^th and 20^th December) and other great events will all be released shortly. More information will be available via www.dartford.gov.uk/events.