LATE night shopping in Newton Abbot town centre kicks off tonight (Wednesday), as is the tradition, with the famous Victorian Evening with shops staying open in the town centre until 8pm.

This year to entertain the children Elfic is back from 6pm – 8pm in the Market Square with one of his amazing and greatly entertaining variety juggling shows.

Once again local charities (dressed in their Victorian attire) will be in the Market Square selling a selection of Christmassy items ranging from Christmas cards and gifts, Christmas decorations and homemade cakes and sweets.

Santa will be on his sleigh in front of St Leonard’s Clock Tower from 6pm to 8pm, come and a have a little chat with him, a small bag of sweets will be given to each child.

Any donations are welcomed and proceeds will go towards the mayor’s charity, this year being ‘Horsemanship for Health’.

A massive thank you to the Newton Abbot Carnival Committee for their hard work on making this year’s Christmas float.

The Clock Tower Bells will also be ringing from 5pm to 6pm by a local bell ringing group to add to the festivities

Keep your eyes peeled for the gentleman on a Penny Farthing doing free balloon modelling and a stilt walking Victorian Policeman making sure everyone is behaving and having fun.

There will also be live music from Spectrum Orchestra under the Austin’s canopy

Raffle tickets, in aid of the mayor’s charity (above) will be sold on the evening and at Newtons Place during the run up to the event and the raffle will be drawn at approximately 8pm in the Market Square.

Prizes include a Christmas food hamper, chocolate hamper, jewellery, cuddly toy and lots more.

There is plenty to see and do for all the family so shoppers are invited to come along and experience the unique atmosphere at Newton Abbot’s festive and fun ‘Victorian Evening’.

For three Wednesdays in December (1, 8 and 15) there will be market stalls selling street food and festive goodies along with late night shopping in the town which will finish at 8pm.

In Courtenay Street, there will be live music and Father Christmas on each of the late night shopping evenings.

On these evenings there will be free parking from 4pm in the open air town centre car parks, courtesy of Teignbridge District Council.

Santa will be available to see free of charge on the Wednesdays that are for late night shopping and each child will get a bag of sweets.

Newton Abbot Town Council hopes the community will continue to support the local business in the town by coming out during the festive season and enjoying the atmosphere with friends and family.

There will be entertainment every Saturday in the town including a new event which is perfect for dog owners.

The council have partnered with local animal charity Animals in Distress to hold a dog-friendly carol service in Wolborough Street.

Sally said: ‘Dogs are very much part of the family and it’s a shame that they must be left at home when the family attends a church carol service.

‘The event is on Saturday, December 11, when I look forward to seeing lots of well-behaved dogs and their owners. Christmas jumpers and accessories for both are optional of course!’

New for this year is the augmented reality trail fun for all the family across town centre businesses.

Families are tasked with visiting 10 different locations across the town to collect digital stamps, you can also have funny photos at each one in AR.

After you’ve collected them all you have to then vote for your favourite and you’ll be rewarded with a free ebook.

This will run until December 31 and there’s a chance for a Nintendo switch and Austins vouchers to be won. Merry Christmas.