Winchester Business Improvement District (BID) has announced its plans for the festive season.

This will include coordinating the city’s Christmas lights, and new for this year is the Winchester Nutcracker Christmas Trail.

Each year the BID coordinates city-wide festive lighting scheme and the annual Christmas Lights Switch On event which marks the start of the festive season.

This year, due to the pandemic, the switch on event which usually attracts thousands of people will not be able to go ahead.

The lights will be switched on during November and the BID will instead be filming video content which will be shared online throughout the season.

The Nutcracker Christmas Trail from November 14 to January 4 will see families try to find the names of the 14 Nutcracker Kings and enter a draw to win a special prize.

Sarah Davis, projects and operations manager at Winchester BID, said: “While we are sad not to be able to organise our usual Christmas Lights Switch On event this year which is such a wonderful community event to kick start the festive season, we are excited to be exploring new ways to celebrate Christmas in Winchester.

“We are working closely with many local organisations.”

, Winchester City Council, Winchester Cathedral, the local business community and local people on alternative plans this year to help raise spirits and celebrate the festive season.”

For the latest updates on Winchester BID’s plans for the festive season, please visit https://winchesterbid.co.uk/ or follow #FestiveWinch and Winchester BID on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.