The countdown to a magical Christmas in Cookstown gets officially underway this year with the Switch On of the town’s Christmas lights at 7.30pm on Thursday 24th November.
With street stalls, free face painting and balloon modelling as well as a host of Christmas and Cartoon characters, including the Paw Patrol, there will be loads to keep the kids amused as they wait for Santa to arrive.
This year we welcome The Whistlin’ Donkeys to liven up the evening for us, ahead of their spring performance in the Burnavon, with a very special Christmas performance just for Cookstown! Hailing from County Tyrone, The Whistlin’ Donkeys are described as Ireland’s favourite Irish traditional folk/rock band. They have recently been busy headlining the Saint Patrick Days celebrations in Times Square New York, Memorial Day events in East Durham and the Catskills New York and Boston Irish Festival. The band has also shared the stage with icons such as The Beach Boys, Smokie, Hot Chocolate, Kian Egan and Shane Filan.
Other entertainment comes from some of the cast of this year’s panto ‘Willy Wonka: The Pantomime’ which will be in the Burnavon from 6th – 28th January.
Hot on the heels of the evenings’ entertainment will be the arrival of Santa himself on board his special sleigh! Santa will join the Chair of Mid Ulster District Council, Cllr Trevor Wilson on stage just after 7.30pm and together they will press the magic red button to light up the streets of Cookstown.
Mid Ulster District Council would like to remind motorists that road diversions will be in place and William Street will be closed to through traffic from 5.30pm – 9pm on Thursday 24th.
For further information on the Big Switch On 2016 contact The Burnavon Box Office on 028 8676 9949 option 1.
To find out about Christmas events across Mid Ulster, including light switch on events in Coalisland, Dungannon, Magherafelt and Maghera, visit www.midulstercouncil.org/christmas.