Festive spirit arrives at Sheffield's Fox Valley with thousands of visitors for Christmas lights switch-on

A packed evening of entertainment was organised to mark the launch of the Christmas period at the Stocksbridge shopping centre, with the return of the stunning 7m high illuminated reindeer in the piazza area at Fox Valley.

Local dance groups Branching Out and Dance Dynamique entertained the crowd in the build up to the switch-on and Sparks Drummers took centre stage with their grand finale to the event.

The night was hosted by Yorkshire DJ Stephanie Hirst, who was joined on stage for the switch on by Andy Hodkin, site manager of sponsor Bloor Homes At Wharncliffe Park.

There was a packed festive market with food-to-go options, with mulled wine and mince pies supplied by Sandersons Department store to keep shoppers warm.

Centre Manager at Fox Valley, Charlotte Whittaker, said: “We had such a great evening and would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who came and helped to make it such a great success. We would also like to thank our fantastic sponsors from Bloor Homes at Wharncliffe Park who helped us deliver a wonderful event here in our local community.

“It’s so lovely to see the reindeer back at the centre – it feels very festive and cheerful and we’re looking forward to lots more events and markets that we have planned in the run up to Christmas now.”