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Four days of festive magic kick off capital's Christmas

With the festive season fast approaching, Edinburgh’s Christmas is gearing up for a bigger, better and more exciting programme than ever before. The city will come alive in an explosion of light, colour and sound with dancing fountains, a massive snow globe, balletic acrobatic displays performed inside a giant inflatable dome and appearances from electroglide angels and an extraordinarily realistic lifesize animatronic polar bear.

The season will kick-off with a four-day extravaganza from 26 – 29 November – Sparkle into Christmas – which gets Edinburgh’s Christmas underway as the iconic Edinburgh Wheel starts turning, skaters take to the ice rink in Winter Wonderland and the Highland Village and traditional German Christmas markets open for business. Street theatre, animations and Forth One broadcasting live between 10 am and 2 pm will combine with retail promotions to make Christmas shopping a pleasure rather than a chore.

In the evening celebrations continue with a short Christmas tree lighting ceremony on The Mound which will also signal the switch on of the thousands of lights throughout Princes Street Gardens which bring the city sparkling into life. A short carol concert and ceremony will recognise the generosity of Hordaland County Council in Norway, which gifts the tree to Edinburgh every year.

On Saturday 28 November, a highlight of the four days will be a brand new event for Scotland, the Homecoming 2009 Art Car Parade, a spectacular parade of illuminated customised vehicles created by artists from all over the UK. A ‘must see’ for residents and visitors alike, this electrifying procession, which is being staged as part of the Homecoming Finale Weekend and national St Andrew’s celebrations, will weave its way through the heart of the city to a stunning stage show climax in St Andrew Square Gardens.

The weekend will culminate on Sunday 29 November with the traditional Nativity Carol Concert around sculptor Tim Chalk’s emotive Nativity Scene, which this year moves to a new location in St Andrew Square Gardens.