Big switch-on events meana busy day ahead for Santa

It was announced this week that the title of Citizen of the Year has been awarded to Sue Jack, assistant group Scout leader who’s been involved in Scouting in Cupar for some 25 years.

Junior Citizen of the Year has been named as 15-year-old Alana Ibister, a Brownie, Guide and Rainbow leader in the town.

Sue and Alana will be teaming up with Santa at around 4.30pm tomorrow to switch on this year’s festive illuminations .

Santa is due to arrive in the town centre at 4.15pm after spending a busy day in his grotto in the Corn Exchange, where he’ll be from 10am.

There’ll also be a Christmas market in the Corn Exchange, along with a bazaar hosted by Adamson League of Friends and featuring Castlehill School Choir.

From 2pm, the Crossgate will come alive with street entertainment, food stalls, music and fairground rides, culminating in the grand switch-on.

The day’s activities and the festive displays are the result of months of hard workon the part of Cupar at Christmas, a group comprising volunteers, councillors, and members of Cupar Community Council.

Although the group is given a financial contribution towards the lights by Fife Council, the group also holds a series of fund-raising events to help meet the cost.

Once he’s finished his duties in Cupar, Santa will head for Kinross, where he’ll be helping local businessman David Sands to perform the big switch-on at 7pm.

Organised by KLEO – Kinross-shire Local Events Organisation – the event is the highlight of Kinross-shire Winter Festival, an eclectic mix of music and entertainment that runs throughout November and December.

In the run-up to Santa’s arrival, a street market will be open from 4pm on Kinross High Street, which has been extensively refurbished since last year.

As in Cupar, the festive illuminations are made possible by a hard-working group of fundraisers, Light up Kinross.

Manwhile Cupar’s new ‘Citizens’ are unlikely to be joined by this year’s spoof celebrity, Justin ‘Timberfake.’

This is the eighth year that Cupar’s mysterious festive prankster has struck with promises of big names coming to Cupar and although local people are no longer fooled, the joke is still much anticipated.

The jape began with Chesney ‘Hoax’ – which had many people taken in – and was followed by ‘Prank’ Bruno, ‘Trick’ Astley, ‘Jean Claude ‘van Scam’ and Charlie ‘Gimmick’.