THE star of this year's Christmas light switch-on in Barrow will be decided by a vote - and the nominees are people that have contributed to the community.

The 'Barrow Christmas Light Switch On' Facebook page has put up 16 posts with a name on them. The person named in the post with the most amount of likes by Thursday will get the honour of switching on the lights. 

The nominees are all people that have contributed to the community this year.

The nominees are: 

  • Barrow Foodbank
  • Kerry Anne Walker
  • Ella Smith
  • Women's Community Matters
  • Amy and Jack Darby
  • Abigale Peters
  • Harrison Holmes
  • Pippah Webber
  • Nicola Ryan
  • Love Barrow Families 
  • Casey-Mae and Malachy
  • Amelia Opie
  • Neil Jones
  • Emily Blowers
  • Jay Wright
  • Youthability
  • Taylor Smith

The event will be on Saturday November 19 from 3pm to 5.45pm. The light switch on will be at around 5.30 pm. 

The Mail: The person to switch on the lights is being decided by voteThe person to switch on the lights is being decided by vote (Image: Barrow Christmas Light Switch On)

During the day there will be acts including Boomdang, Beth Horan, Olivia Dacre, Cinderella Panto cast performance, Santa Claus, Taylors children's funfair and much more.

The lights switch on is a community event run voluntarily by Beth and Denis Horan from Ultimate Events UK.

Denis said: "We are delighted to once again be able to put on the Barrow Christmas Lights Switch On event. It's such a cherished event in the local calendar and we can't wait to bring some sparkle and magic to the faces on all the local children, we are thrilled by the line up of local talent onstage and can't wait to see our switch on stars push the button to light up the town centre."

The event relies on its sponsors, which this year are JT Atkinson Builders Merchant, BarrowFull, Barrow Borough Council and The Forum Theatre. 

Last year hundreds of families came to the event to cheer and sing along to local acts. Six-year-old Ezra Mclean had the job of turning the lights on. 

It was a particularly special event as the year before had to run virtually because of Covid-19 restrictions.