Organisers of Huddersfield’s Festival of Light start work today on preparations for the big event.
They will start setting up the first of the many stalls for the festival.
Over 30 stalls will be bringing food and drink from around the world to Byram Street and St Peter’s Street.
And that means road closures come into effect tomorrow.
Organisers are asking festival goers to carefully work out their travel plans in advance.
A series of road closures are planned throughout the town centre over the weekend, and with over 50,000 visitors expected, there will be disruption to usual traffic movements and some delays are possible.
Byram Street and St Peter’s Street will be closed from 8am tomorrow until 6am on Monday, December 9.
Lower King Street, which will host a music stage, will be closed from 6am on Friday to 2pm on Sunday.
The main Festival of Light evening programme will be in St George’s Square, St Peter’s Gardens and around the Open Market and that means there will be closures affecting Railway Street, Northumberland street, John William Street, Brook Street and some smaller side roads at the following times:
3pm to 11.59pm on Friday and Saturday and from 11am to 7pm on Sunday.
Access to the railway station car park and pick-up and drop-off points will be unavailable from 3pm on Friday and Saturday and 2pm on Sunday until midnight.
An alternative drop-off point for disabled visitors and station users will operate from John William Street.
Julia Lilof, partnership manager for Huddersfield Town Centre Partnership which manages the food and drink festival, said: “We are proud to once again be part of Festival of Light.
“We will be opening our stalls early from noon on Friday, Saturday and Sunday so that festival-goers can come along and sample the fabulous food and drink we have available, before the main festival performances starting at 5pm.
“We will be staying open right through to 10pm on Friday and Saturday, and to 6pm on Sunday to ensure that people can come, refuel and warm up with the festival favourites we have on offer throughout the whole of the festival performance.”
Visitors to the food market will find themselves entertained by live music, street theatre, and a transfixing light and sound installation called Chorus by Ray Lee in St Peter’s Gardens.
Nearby, inside Huddersfield Methodist Mission on Lord Street, the Art Arcade will provide unique Christmas gifts from some of Yorkshire’s finest artists.
More than 30 artists and makers will be selling their work – photographs, drawings, paintings, prints and ceramics and much more.
The main festival feature this year is Marling, when the crowds will be able to manipulate a stunning light show in St George’s Square.
They will create a ceiling of animated colour overhead simply by using their voices.
There will also be many street theatre acts and attractions across the town centre.
Clr Peter McBride, Kirklees joint Cabinet member for place, said: “Festival of Light brings thousands of additional visitors into Huddersfield over the course of the weekend and we’re keen to make sure that as many of our local businesses as possible benefit from that.”
