The Old Town Christmas Festival will be taking place towards the end of November, and will see Duncan James from the band Blue headlining.
The Festival, which is back after two years of lockdowns, complete with pop star headliner, has been expanded with a new road closure in place for the day.
It will take place on 27 November.
The road closure will allow for a fun fair to be held along Wood Street and the stage to be moved to a new location on the top part of Victoria Road.
The headliner - Duncan James - is deemed the biggest celebrity to appear in Old Town for the Christmas Festival event. Organisers also say they are proud there is always a link back to the local area.
Duncan was born in Wiltshire and is one of the members of boy band Blue who have sold over 15 million records. They have recently reformed and are about to embark on a UK tour celebrating their 20 year anniversary.
The Old Town crowd may also know Duncan is also an actor, having starred on TV as Ryan Knight in Hollyoaks. Duncan has also appeared in the West End, with roles in the musicals Chicago, Legally Blonde and The Rocky Horror Show.
Entertainment Director Evie Em-Jay said: “We are so excited to have Duncan James join us. The festival has been running for over 50 years but this sizeable event, with a road closure for Vic Road, is a first for us.
"To mark this we wanted to have a big headliner who reflects all that we are about; talent, local connection and of course a great performance. Duncan will be interviewed live on stage as well as treating us to some great tracks."
This year’s event is said to be bigger than ever before and as a result has pulled in some big sponsors. The headline sponsor is Talk Talk, in light of Swindon’s roll out of full fibre internet.
They will be joined as sponsors by Future Planning, Los Gatos, Dominos Pizza Old Town and Deacon’s Jewellers.
The Business Association are also asking for £1 donations per person from visitors to help raise money to add to their Christmas Lights onto Victoria Road next year.
Other live acts that are appearing on stage include Joli - a popular Wiltshire Soul singer - as well as a specially commissioned set of Musical classics with Phoebe Maddison, and Ministry of Samba’s last performance with their founder and Director Luke Winton.
The event is said to have already pre-sold over 1500 tickets since it was announced two weeks ago, and it has a cap of 5000 attendees in order to keep the event safe.
The Festival will run over the course of a whole afternoon, from 12pm - 6pm, of live music, the fun fair on Wood Street, food and drink stalls and other Christmas surprises.
This year’s Festival is also supported by South Swindon Parish Council who have completed extensive work to repair the existing Christmas Lights, and get them put up and taken down safely.
To book tickets members of the public can go to https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/old-town-christmas-festival-2022-tickets-445086825677
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