Merry Christmas Petersfield!

Those were the words from Santa Claus, special guests and at least three very excited Herne Junior School pupils as Petersfield’s Christmas Lights were turned on this evening before huge crowd on The Square.

Hundreds gathered in the town centre for the final countdown with Petersfield Personality of the Year, DJ Boz, doing the honours alongside town mayor, Cllr Chris Paige, and presenters Joff Lacey and Claire Vennis of Shine Radio in the seconds before 7pm.

The final countdown was the terrific conclusion to two hours of festive entertainment with performances from Petersfield school pupils, Beatrix Turner and Keira Kingsbury, the Winton Players and Alice Farrow backed by the Salvation Army Band.

But there was bad news – if anyone in the crowd was taking part in Whamageddon, they’ve already failed as Last Christmas was played immediately after the lights were turned on.

“And it isn’t even December,” joked Joff. More in next week’s Petersfield Post.