Wolverhampton Christmas Festival

Wolverhampton is getting ready to enjoy the festive season as the city gears up for its Christmas Festival.

This year visitors will be able to enjoy a superb continental market, rich with the taste and smell of Europe, a winter grotto for Santa, street entertainment and a host of other activities.

It all kicks off on 14 November, when stars from the Grand Theatre's Christmas panto Dick Whittington will join the Mayor of Wolverhampton, Councillor Trudy Bowen, to switch on the city centre's Christmas lights in Market Square.

They will be accompanied by the Beacon Radio road show and presenters Fresh and Jo, along with street entertainers for the crowds. The show starts at 5pm with the switch-on at 6.30pm.

There will be free car parking at Market car park, Fold Street, School Street and Peel Street car parks after 4.30pm for visitors to the Christmas lights switch-on.

The event coincides with the start of late night shopping in the city centre. Every Wednesday shops and stores will be open until 9pm.

The festive fun continues when the Christmas lights are switched on in Tettenhall on November 16, and in Bilston and Wednesfield on November 17, each with its own fun, games and entertainment from Dicky Dodd and the roadshow from Wolverhampton's 107.7 The Wolf.

The main event of the festival will be a continental Christmas market in the newly refurbished Dudley Street in the heart of the city centre.

The market will run from 12 to 21 December and feaure traders from France, Germany, Italy, Holland and Belgium. You will find a sumptuous variety of hot and cold food and drink, toys, sweets and a wide variety of gifts for the whole family.

Goods include Dutch cheeses, cakes and waffles, pastries, leather goods, cashmere and knitwear, French perfumes, Italian silks and much more.

There will also be a stall selling German gluhwein (mulled wine) and a schwenkgrill - a hexagonal unit selling beer and sausages. The market will be open from 10am to 9pm every day except for Sundays when it will be open from 10.30am to 4.30pm.

To launch the market there will be a reindeer parade featuring Santa and an accompanying jazz band in Dudley Street on December 12, prior to Santa taking up residence in his grotto in Queen Square.

This is hugely popular with children, who get to meet real reindeer, making a memorable photograph for the family album. The grotto will then be open every day from 10am until 7pm and 10.30am to 4.30pm on Sundays until 21 December.

There's lots more going on in the city including events and activities in the Wulfrun and Mander shopping centres.

There's the panto at the Grand Theatre, music and performances at the Civic Hall and films and events at the Lighthouse ensuring that Wolverhampton's Christmas Festival will have something for everyone.