THOUSANDS of people are set to get Taunton into the Christmas spirit when the lights are switched on this Sunday.

A day-long festive extravaganza has been lined up, with the town centre teeming with plenty of fantastic entertainment and activities for children and adults.

High Street, North Street, East Street and Hammet Street will be traffic-free for the day so people can mill around at their leisure.

The fun includes street entertainment, with jugglers, stilt walkers and the theatre ice cream van, go karts, a farmers market in High Street with food and craft stalls and a climbing wall.

Representatives of Royal Marines charity Go Commando and police cadets and ambulance personnel will be there.

Blackdown Hills Market will set up on Castle Green, while Coal Orchard car park will be converted into a fairground from 10am to 10pm.

A whopping 250 acts, who have all donated their time for free, have been lined up to provide music throughout the day on the main stage.

The big switch on at 6pm will be performed by ten children, with a helping hand from Taunton Deane Mayor Dave Durdan and Santa.

The Christmas tree has again been donated by Langford Lakes.

Kelly Durdan, from Make Taunton Sparkle, who raised much of the money to pay for the town’s decorations, said: “I’d like to say a big thank you to everybody who has so kindly contributed to make sure we’re going to have a fantastic day and that Taunton will be lit up for Christmas.

“The switch on day is always great fun and we’re expecting thousands of people to come into the town and join in on Sunday.”

Pat Mayhew, of TIME4, who has organised some of the entertainment, said: “A lot of effort has gone into the day to make sure everybody can have a great day.”