In pictures: Victoria Square's Christmas fairy saves the day as crowds gather for festive lights switch-on

The centre’s first official Christmas light switch on since 2019 saw Cool FM’s Pete, Paulo and Rebecca joined by Santa Claus for big ‘switch-on’ at 12 noon.

In a dramatic turn of events, it seemed touch and go as to whether the tree would sparkle at all as, following the countdown, the Christmas lights appeared to malfunction.

However, the Victoria Square Christmas fairy came to the rescue and as the crowd began to clap and sing a chorus of Jingle Bells, she floated upwards, peformed some entertaining somersaults and waved her magic wand to bring the lights on.

Having saved the day, the Christmas fairy flew upwards to the dome, from where a shower of snow began to descend over the crowd.

Following the switch-on, Victoria Square’s festive grotto opened its doors, welcoming little ones to meet Santa, share their Christmas wishes and capture a special festive photo.

The grotto is open every weekend up until Christmas with mid-week opening hours scheduled for late November and December.