THE children will be getting into the Christmas spirit by forming a squad of walking Christmas presents at Swindon's Carnival Parade.

About 20 children from Clifton Street Pre-School plan to dress up for the event on Sunday, November 26, when they will be joined by their parents.

The idea came after the children and staff saw last year's parade and decided they wanted to join in.

Bernice Reedman, one of the adult helpers at the pre-school, said: "We saw the parade last year, and it looked so good that we got in touch with the organisers and asked if we could take part this year. We're all very excited about it."

Sponsored by the Brunel Centre, the parade will set off at 10.30am from Regent Circus, and wind through the town, along Regent Street to the crossroads at BHS and through Canal Walk to House of Fraser.

Entertainment will continue around the town and on a stage outside House of Fraser in Canal Walk after the carnival until 3pm.

Meanwhile, tonight (Thursday) the town centre will come alive with lights and lasers, as the Christmas lights switch-on ceremony gets under way.

Rod, Jane and Freddy, the stars of this year's Christmas pantomime, Cinderella, at the Wyvern Theatre, will have the honour of flicking the switch to illuminate over 2,000 bulbs and decorations. The trio will be taking to the stage outside Debenhams at 6.15pm.

To celebrate the launch of the lights, The Wyvern Theatre and GWR FM are hosting the free event.

The ceremony will then be broadcast live on Central TV News from 6pm.

The fun kicks off at 5.30pm with dancers from the Tanwood Theatre School. They will perform Too Damn Hot from Kiss Me Kate.

At 5.40pm Damian from GWR will welcome the crowd and hand over to Jez and Lou from the morning crew at 5.50pm.

There will also be entertainment, mulled wine and mince pies at the Market Hall, funfair rides and traditional stalls in Canal Walk and a Dickensian Choir in the Brunel Centre.

British Gas donated £13,000 while Tesco Extra is sponsoring the laser show.

Town centre manager Bernie Maguire believes tonight will be spectacular: "This will be the best light switch-on in Swindon, with a laser show, GWR and Central TV. It will be a fantastic atmosphere. We may even provide a little snow."