Traditional Lantern Parade officially starts Christmas countdown in Milton Keynes town

The countdown to Christmas has officially begun with thousands of people attending the annual Lantern Parade ahead of the Christmas lights switch- on in Stony Stratford on Saturday.

The town glittered and shone with enchanting, twinkling lights as excitement built to the town’s Christmas lights switch-on following a day of fun festive activities for all the family.

The lantern parade, themed 'Christmas in Storyland’ wound its way down London Road to the High Street and into the Market Square in time for the main event which was followed by some community carol singing to get the Christmas celebrations off to a fine start.

The Stony Stratford Lantern Project is a popular community arts project which sees people of all ages joining together at York House Centre to make lanterns for the Lantern Procession which takes place every year as part of the Stony Stratford Christmas Lights Switch-On event.As ever the procession displayed a fantastic range of lanterns made from Willow withies and masking tape which is then covered with colourful tissue paper and PVA glue and lit from within by a candle.Previous themes over the years featured 'Christmas in Toyland' and 'Christmas Under the Sea' but designs is limited by your imagination.The immensely popular Christmas Lights Switch-On Fun Day is normally held on a Saturday at the end of November but this year has moved closer to Christmas. And for those who braved the freezing temperatures it again proved a magical family day of Christmas fun voted one of the best festive community events in the Milton Keynes area.