Christmas Market is coming to town!

Sheffield Christmas Market - an absolute highlight of the city’s festive calendar - is returning tomorrow (yay!) and will run right up until Christmas Eve, keeping us all well and truly in the festive spirit, whether we’re out doing our Christmas shopping or passing it on our way to work.

There will be tons of sweets, treats and craft products available to ensure you have lots of inspiration for some spontaneous purchases. And with a number of different locations available for you to partake in some festive fun, the Christmas Market is a great way to kick off your Christmas celebrations and preparations.

The Christmas Market, organised by Farrars Funfairs will be based on Fargate and the Peace Gardens, and many Sheffield independent traders will be showcasing all that is great within the Sheffield retail scene. This has grown over the years from a handful of log cabins to an entire Christmas experience, so wrap up warm and enjoy!

The food stalls are also sure to be worth a visit, with plenty of festive grub there to warm your belly.

Santa’s Grotto is at the heart of the event, with the much loved Sleigh Bar and the traditional German Sausage grill.

Santa’s Grotto guarantees a meeting with the big man himself, so have your camera phone at the ready for a perfect photo opportunity.

And then, this Sunday, Sheffield’s city centre with be lighting up for Christmas with its big light switch-on from 2pm to 6.30pm.

This year’s event will evoke those nostalgic memories of childhood with choirs, a Santa’s grotto, carolling, panto and street entertainment. Take the family along to meet children’s TV and film characters, have a go at some Christmas craft activities in the Winter Garden and head for the fairground rides on Fargate. And don’t forget to take the elf trail from the Winter Garden to the city centre when there’ll be tons of prizes up for grabs. You can also take a ride on a fire engine and play on the National Emergency Museum’s display of emergency vehicles as the museum goes ‘on tour’ for the day.

And of course the switch on of the illuminations at 5.30pm from the Peace Gardens stage!

Heart Yorkshire presenters will host the stage programme with choirs, Christmas music, pop, opera, interviews and Sheffield Theatre’s panto stars. There will also be some special headline switch-on guests but organisers are keeping their identities close to their chests for the moment...