The switch-on of the lights at Ipswich Cornhill in 2010

The town is to have a stunning new light show during the festive season.

Ipswich Central, the borough, and town centre retailers have invested £100,000 in new lights, which they say will be the best in the region.

They are due to be switched on at the end of Sunday shopping on November 25.

The switch-on date means the lights won’t be shining when thousands of people come to the Christmas Market in the town, which will take place a week earlier and will feature 150 festive stalls.

Ipswich Central chief executive Paul Clement said the switch on had been planned months ago – long before anyone had known anything about the Christmas Market.

He said: “We are hoping to get 5,500 people on the Cornhill for the big switch-on. It will be a great occasion as the town prepares for Christmas.”

Last year there was no major light switch-on in the town – Ipswich Central had only just won the ballot to continue running the Business Improvement District (BID) and there was not enough time to organise a big event. This year there are planning to be a number of events aimed at attracting shoppers to Ipswich – as well as the Christmas Market from November 15 to 18, there is also a market planned for the Fore Street area which will have a Dickensian theme and will involve students from UCS.

n Does the town do enough to celebrate Christmas? Write to Your Letters, Ipswich Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN.