• Swindon & Wiltshire News
• Monday November 14 2022

Blue popstar Duncan James to headline Old Town Christmas Festival

Music and television personality Duncan James, formerly of boyband Blue, will headline the Old Town Business Association‘s Christmas lights celebrations in Swindon on Sunday, November 27.

The Festival, which is back after two years of lockdowns, has been expanded with a new road closure in place for the day.

The road closure will allow for a fun fair on Wood Street and the stage to be moved to a new location on the top part of Victoria Road.

The headliner is the biggest celebrity that has ever appeared in Old Town for their Christmas event.

Organisers are also proud there is always a link back to the local area – the star was born in Wiltshire.

Duncan was a founding member of the boyband Blue who dominated the charts in the early 20000s 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’s latest foray is into the West End after having appeared in 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 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, 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 has already pre-sold over 1,500 tickets since it was announced two week ago, and has a cap of 5,000 attendees to keep the event safe.

The Festival will be a whole afternoon, from 12pm to 6pm, of live music, the fun fair on Wood Street, food and drink stalls and other Christmas surprises.

This year’s event 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 visit https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/old-town-christmas-festival-2022-tickets-445086825677