TRADERS are hoping for a festive boost as they gear up for a spectacular Christmas light switch on tonight.

Fairground rides, hog roast vans and traditional roast chestnuts will tempt thousands of shoppers into Bury St Edmunds town centre tonight for the annual launch of the Christmas season.

Pupils from schools around Bury will perform on a special stage to keep crowds entertained before the big countdown begins.

Father Christmas himself will then join stars of the Theatre Royal pantomime Mother Goose and BBC Radio Suffolk presenter Stephen Foster at the official switch-on in Bury’s Buttermarket at 6.30pm.

Steve Peters, Bury town centre manager, said confetti cannons and 240,000 festive bulbs should create a magical atmosphere on one of the town’s busiest nights of the year.

“The town looks fantastic when the lights go on,” he said. “The whole place just looks stunning.”

Eager visitors can get a head start on their Christmas spending this evening on the first night of festive late-night shopping.

Cash tills should be ringing as the festive occasion marks a bumper night in the town’s trading calendar.

“The switch- on brings a lot of people in to the town,” Mr Peters said. “Some businesses do extremely well with it.”