THE streets of Salisbury were illuminated at the lantern and lights procession.

Hundreds people and lanterns joined the procession, which was organised by Salisbury BID and Salisbury City Council and took place yesterday evening (Thursday, December 12).

This is the eighth year the Lantern and Lights Procession has taken place in the city centre as part of the Christmas in Salisbury celebrations.

The procession started at Salisbury Cathedral and made its way down High Street through to the Old George Mall and into Market Place.

The Mayor of Salisbury John Walsh and the Cathedral’s Dean, Reverend Canon Nicholas Charles Papadopulos led the procession with Dolphin Marching Band, who performed some festive music.

Once the procession arrived in the Market Place, participants and spectators were treated to a dance performance by Elevate Dance, who incorporated fibre optics lights into their routine.

This year's event was sponsored by Openreach.The firm also ran a competition for the best lantern with a £500 tech bundle prize. The winner was a bear lantern, handmade by Clare Spender of Salisbury.

The Mayor of Salisbury, John Walsh, said: “I was delighted to see all the hard work of the city council and the BID come together this evening and it was heart-warming to see so many families come out with their lanterns to light up Salisbury.

“Everyone did such a fantastic job making their lanterns, and congratulations to Clare of Salisbury who took home the prize for the best lantern.

“Finally, a special thank you to Openreach whose sponsorship enabled us to put this event on, and it was great to see their incredible engineers join the procession with their own lantern.”

James Tappenden, Fibre First Director at Openreach, said: “We’ve hugely enjoyed being able to support this event and for some of our engineers to take part in the procession with their very own full fibre broadband inspired giant lantern.

“Our dedicated engineers are now back hard at work building a full fibre network to give the whole city access to some of the best, most reliable broadband in the UK – and hopefully giving the city something else to celebrate when we complete the build in March next year.

“We’re making great progress so if you want check to see if you can already order a full fibre broadband service, or just want to find out more about what full fibre can do for you, then please visit our dedicated Salisbury web page at www.openreach.co.uk/salisbury.”

The Salisbury Lantern and Lights Procession is hoping to return next year as part of the city’s 2020 celebrations and the organisers will be looking for a sponsor.