VISITORS to Devizes will be able to park free for the whole day on November 30 as Wiltshire Council joins in the Christmas spirit.

To encourage more people to visit and enjoy the Devizes Christmas Festival, the town council asked County Hall to agree to free parking throughout the day.

An open air market will operate in the Market Place from 10.30am, with more stalls on offer in the Corn Exchange from 2.30pm.

The Kennet and Avon Canal Trust is once again hosting Santa’s Grotto at its headquarters at Devizes Wharf from 2.30pm to 5.30pm.

Rebecca Wells, assistant administrator at the trust, said: “This is one of the highlights of our year at the Wharf. “We are delighted to be involved in such a lovely event, which this year includes the opening of our coffee shop later than normal to help people soak up the atmosphere, or simply enable parents and carers to catch their breath ahead of the evening’s festivities.

“Our dedicated volunteers are busy making sure that everything is ship-shape for the visit on Friday. “We want to ensure that every child who wants to see Santa gets to have a chat with him and we are excited about the Wharf being transformed into a sea of light.”

This year’s lantern parade, which will set off from the Market Place at 6pm, is expected to be over 2,000 strong, with up to 1,000 lanterns.

It will call at the Wharf to pick up Father Christmas and accompany him to the Market Place, where he will switch on the Christmas lights.