Christmas has arrived in Gloucester! Not a moment too soon the Christmas lights have been turned on as the festive season hits our city. To mark this momentous occasion, I led a parade of arctic-themed lanterns round the city. These exquisite concoctions were made by clever children from six schools across the county, who had been working with a local artist.

This year’s arctic theme was chosen as it coincides with The Festival of Winter’s Breaking The Ice performance which will be shown at The Guildhall in December. We had a magical night as we paraded animals from the Antarctic through our streets, before the dazzling Christmas lights lit up with a cheer!

The schools that took part in creating the wonderful animals for our lantern parade were:

• Highnam Academy
• Coopers Edge School
• Elmbridge Primary School
• Linden Primary
• Tuffley Primary School
• Churchdown Village Primary School

Many thanks to all who took part – it was a magnificent event.

Image credit: Gloucestershire Live