Priory's Christmas lights go on this Friday, and for one evening the middle of town becomes the busiest few hundred metres in the district. The switch-on itself lasts about ninety seconds. Everything around it — the stalls, the crowds, the closed roads — runs for five hours. Knowing where to stand, when to set off and how you will get home is what turns a nice evening into an easy one.

What is happening, and when

Entertainment in Market Square begins at 4pm with the school choirs and the town brass band, followed by the community choir at 5.15pm. The countdown starts at 6pm sharp, and the lights come on across the square, down High Street and along the tree at the Green. Shops stay open until 8pm, and the food stalls around the Buttercross serve until roughly 8.30pm.

One thing worth repeating: the road closures start well before the lights do. Drivers who assume the barriers go up at six tend to find themselves turned around at the Clock Tower with nowhere obvious to go.

Road closures: the timetable

The town centre closure order runs from 3.30pm to 8.30pm. Barriers go up from about 3.15pm so stewards can clear any vehicles already parked inside the zone.

• Market Square — closed to all vehicles from 3.30pm, including taxis, deliveries and Blue Badge holders who normally park on the square.
• High Street — closed between the Clock Tower and Market Square from 3.30pm.
• Abbeygate — closed from 4pm, with residents' access maintained at walking pace under steward control.
• Mill Lane — closed from 4pm at the junction with Bridge Street.
• Church Walk and the Green — no through traffic from 4pm; the footpaths stay open throughout.

Closure times can shift at short notice if the weather turns or if an event is cancelled, so check the signs on the approach roads and the town council noticeboard on the day rather than relying on a screenshot from last year.

Parking, buses and the walk in

If you are driving

Mill Lane car park is the closest to the square and typically fills by around 4pm. The overflow at the leisure centre on Priory Road is a ten-minute walk and usually has space until well after five. Do not park on the verges along Abbeygate or on the double yellows near the Green; enforcement officers do patrol on switch-on night, and a ticket is a sour end to a good evening.

If you have a Blue Badge, the bays on Bridge Street sit just outside the closure zone and are your best option. They go early.

If you are on foot or on the bus

The 17 and the 42 both run a normal Friday timetable until 7pm, then divert around the closure via Bridge Street. The stop outside the library is the closest drop-off to the square. Walking is genuinely the easiest option if you live within a mile or so — footpaths are wide, well lit and unaffected by the closures. Bring a torch for the unlit stretch along Church Walk.

Best spots to watch the switch-on

With small children

The raised paving outside the library gives you about a foot of height and a clear line to the tree without being in the thick of the crowd. Arrive by 5.15pm to claim a spot at the front. The area beside the Buttercross is flatter and easier with a pushchair, though the view is partly blocked by the stalls.

For photographs

Stand on the Green side of the square, facing back towards the Buttercross. You get the tree, the lit shopfronts and the crowd's faces in one frame. If you want the moment of the countdown, pick your position by 5.30pm and stay there; moving once the crowd packs in is difficult.

If crowds are not your thing

The top of Abbeygate, near the church gate, is close enough to hear the choir and see the lights come on, with room to step back. Several families watch from there and walk home before the crush.

Keeping everyone safe and together

Most of what goes wrong on switch-on night is small: a lost child for ten minutes, a cold toddler, a phone battery dead by seven. A little preparation covers nearly all of it.

1. Agree a meeting point before you arrive. The war memorial is the usual one, because it is visible from most of the square. Show everyone in your group where it is.
2. Write a phone number on younger children's wrists in biro, or use a wristband. It works when nothing else does.
3. Dress warmer than you think you need. Standing still in a crowd for an hour feels far colder than walking for the same time. Hats, gloves and a spare pair of socks for the little ones.
4. Keep hold of hands through the countdown. The middle of the square surges forward as the lights go on. If you have a pushchair, stay to the edges and avoid the centre.
5. Consider ear defenders for babies and toddlers. The public address system is loud, and the countdown is louder.
6. Take a charged phone and, if you can, a small power bank. Reception gets patchy when several thousand people are in one place.
7. Carry cash for the smaller stalls. Some take cards, some do not, and the signal can slow card machines.

If someone in your group has a heart or breathing condition that cold and crowding can aggravate, it is worth a quick word with their GP or pharmacist beforehand about whether a shorter visit makes sense.

Accessibility and quieter options

The square itself is level and mostly paving, though the cobbles near the Buttercross are uneven and harder in a wheelchair or with a narrow pushchair. A viewing area with a clearer surface is marked out on the library side of the square, near the dropped kerb, and stewards will help you reach it if you ask. The accessible toilets at the leisure centre stay open until 9pm. If you would rather avoid the busiest hour entirely, come at 4pm for the choir, then watch the switch-on from Abbeygate and leave before the shops close.

Plan your exit before you arrive

The trickiest part of the evening is the twenty minutes after the lights go on, when everyone moves at once. Decide now where you will go. Walking to the top of High Street and out via Bridge Street avoids the bottleneck at the Clock Tower, and the queue for Mill Lane car park clears much faster if you have parked on the far side and can walk around rather than through the square.

If you plan to drink at the stalls or in town afterwards, sort out a lift or a taxi booking in advance rather than at 9pm on a Friday. And if you are heading home on foot, keep to the lit routes and cross at the stewarded points on Bridge Street — the diversions mean more traffic than usual on roads that are normally quiet. Wrap up, take your time, and enjoy the evening.

Photo: 652234 / Pixabay