It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas in Northern Ireland.
Thousands of smiling faces lined the streets outside Belfast City Hall on Saturday night to be a part of the magic of this year’s Christmas light switch-on.
The Lord Mayor of Belfast Cllr Micky Murray was joined on stage by comperes Pete Snodden, Rebecca McKinney and Paulo Ross from Cool FM’s breakfast show to light up the city on November 16.
Read more: In pictures: Santa Parade sees Christmas magic arrive in Belfast city centre
Crowds were treated to a jam-packed programme of entertainment for all the family on the night including the All-Ireland Under 13 Bagpipe champion, Finaghy Primary School choir, a performance from The MAC’s Christmas pantomime, Tumble Circus and Christmas songs from Ballyhackamore Rock Choir.
Earlier in the day, Santa made his grand return to the winter grotto at CastleCourt Shopping Centre by taking part in his annual parade that danced, cheered and sang through the city centre.
If that was not enough festive cheer for the city, the annual Belfast Christmas Market once again officially opened its gate for business at noon on Saturday – expected to welcome over one million guests over the next five weeks.
Marking 20 years at its home in the grounds of Belfast City Hall, the market looked extra magical on Saturday night once the Lord Mayor officially hit the button to turn on this year’s Christmas lights.
Take a look through our photo gallery below to see some highlights from Saturday’s Christmas light switch-on…
