THIS year’s Henley Christmas Festival will be “bigger and better” than before, says Mayor Rory Hunt.

A celebrity will again turn on the lights on the large Nordmann fir in Market Place on Friday, November 29 at 7pm.

The town centre will be closed to traffic from 3pm to 11pm and the festival will be held from 5pm to 9pm.

There will be a selection of festive stalls, fairground rides and entertainment throughout the event.

Father Christmas will be in Market Place on December 11 and 12 to meet with children and families and on December 21 there will be a visit from the Grinch.

A Christmas market is being held for the first time from December 10 to 22 and will feature 10 chalet-style huts. The town council has applied for a road closure to accommodate the huts so not to impact the regular charter and farmer’s markets.

The charter market will be held on December 12, the farmer’s market on December 14 and the craft market on December 15.

A joint farmer’s and charter market will be held on December 19.

Councillor Hunt said: “It’s the first time we’ve tried to do a real Christmas market. Off the back of the Christmas festival last year with the new lights and things like that, we’re hoping it will be bigger and better than ever. “

The Christmas huts will add a real festive feel to the Market Place. It should hopefully make Henley a real Christmas destination and bring people into the town.

“The whole point of this is to boost trade and tourism in the town. Hopefully it will give not just our market retailers but our town retailers a big boost over the festive period.

“It’s been a tough few years for traders through covid. Hopefully this will really help the town and it will be great for not just the residents of Henley but residents locally in who can come into town and have a real festive atmosphere.”