The program for the evening has been developed based on your feedback and very helpful suggestions following
last year's Christmas on The Hill event.

• 1pm - Parking Restrictions start - stage & stalls set up
• 4pm - Road Closure from Bridge Street up to Castle Street
• 4.40pm - Assemble for the Lantern Procession at the Castle
• 5pm - Lantern Procession starts led by Father Christmas
• 5.15pm - Lighting Up & Blessing the Tree in Market Hill
• 5.30pm - Sir Robert Hitcham's Primary School Carol singing
• 6pm - Pop Chorus
• 6pm - Christmas Storytelling - in the Library
• 6.20pm - Christmas Storytelling - in the Library
• 6.30pm - Fram Ukulele band on the stage
• 6.45pm - Nativity Play at the Unitarian Meeting House
• 7pm - Rabble Chorus
• 7.45pm - Flaxen
• 9pm - Pack up event
• 10pm - Road opens

Late night shopping
Shops and stalls will be open from 5pm - 9pm

All times and activities are subject to last-minute changes and subject to Government Covid guidance at the time.

Lantern Procession
4.40pm The Church bells will ring to call people to assemble for the procession.

5pm The event begins with the lantern procession starting from the Castle footpath, led by Father Christmas on the Hour Community trishaw.
Immediately behind the trishaw will be a group of around 40 children chaperoned by the Sing Praise team. Followed by all those who have made lanterns - we end up in front of the stage on Market Hill around the tree.

Lighting Up & Blessing the Tree
5.15pm The procession will make its way into Market Hill, where Dan Poulter will light up the tree, followed by a blessing by Reverend Chris Davey. Then the music starts on the stage…

Market Hill Shopping & Refreshments
Shops will be opening late, and some will be offering extra Christmas treats, such as Fram Travel offering a Christmas Tree Lucky Dip, mince pies and mulled wine. The market will include food and drink including the very popular Hall Farm barbecue grill, and on the market there will be Pizza, Over the Moon Cafe, Simpsons, Oh Fudge…

Kiosk On The Hill
Last year the Kiosk was decorated for the Christmas season by Hour Community group - what will the festive decorations be like this year?

New for this year by popular request - situated in the Old Theatre and in the Unitarian Meeting House
Framlingham Makers Market will be joining a variety of craft & Christmas stalls with a range of special Christmas festive items - about 15 stalls in all.

To make a great atmosphere we will be setting up stage in Market Hill with a professional lighting and sound set-up.
We have decided to go for a range of local artists to perform throughout the evening. There will be a lot of festive Christmas songs, mixed with some lively, traditional folk music.

The line up for the evening:

5.30pm - SRH Carol Singing
The evening starts with Carol singing by children and staff from Sir Robert Hitcham's Primary School.

6pm - Pop Chorus
Our very own local choir will take the stage to entertain us with a range of popular Christmas songs.

6.30pm - Framlingham Ukulele
New to our Christmas events in Framlingham, we hope you will welcome the Framlingham Ukulele group. They are an informal group of players of all ages, meeting regularly at the Unitarian Meeting House.

7pm - The Rabble Chorus
This is a chance for all to sing along to rousing festive songs! Rabble Chorus sing a mix of musical styles, including performing larger staged shows, They are based in Easton.

7.45pm - Flaxen
We end the evening with Flaxen who played with great effect at last years event in the Castle. They are a local trio of musicians playing a wide, eclectic, mix of songs across genres, who can often be heard performing in the pub in Sweffling.

Charity fundraising activities are being run by a number of different groups in various venues
Please look out for their collection bins, and we hope you will give generously

Storytelling at the Library - 6pm and 6.15pm
Nothing is as enchanting and traditional as sitting and listening to stories at Christmas.

Nativity play outside the Meeting House - at 6.45pm
A very evocative play by children of Framlingham

Town Council welcomes you to their office on Church Street
There will be a Christmas Hamper raffle and we will be selling Fram calendars, Christmas cards and the popular Fairtrade jute bags, plus a range of creative craft kits to raise funds for events and for our selected charity PHAB. Come in for a chat, and refreshments (mince pies, chocolates and wine).

In the Unitarian Meeting House
Council creative fundraising activities include a "Friendship Greetings Tree" and "Santa's Spectacles".

PHAB, who have a special club in Framlingham at the College, will also have a stall with activities.

Under the Lime trees in Market Hill
You can sponsor a light to decorate the brilliant "Light Up the Stars" display to raise funds for PHAB

Christmas Tree Festival - Friday 2nd December 5pm - 9pm
A special Preview of the Christmas Trees decorated by local voluntary groups, with mulled cider.

Double Street Advent Windows - from Thursday 1st December
The residents of Double Street will be revealing their enchanting Advent windows one by one. Two festive windows will be viewable when we kick off the Christmas festivities on Friday 2nd. There will be fundraising collection points on the street - all donations go to their chosen charities. Please be generous as no expenses are deducted and no sponsorship is sought.
The windows will remain on view until Tuesday 3rd January.

You can pick up free LED lights and sticks to make your own lanterns
We have enough LED lights and sticks for almost 500 hundred lanterns - so you can make your own.
Pick them up from the Primary School, the Library or the Town Council office. Here are suggestions on how to make lantern.

Instructions for making lanterns can be found HERE

Workshops
The Sing Praise group of children will be making lanterns for the procession during after school sessions in St Michael's Church.

We are sadly not planning to run any other workshops sessions like we did last year.

We carried out a survey in February 2022 to capture your views on what went well and not so well last year. This was a new Christmas festive event which took place in Market Hill and the Castle. It was the first Town Council organised public event to be run as we emerged from the Covid pandemic. Here is the report on what you said: