THE final plans are being put in place for this year’s Whalley Pickwick Night.

The annual event, which is celebrating it’s 26th year, will be staged in the Ribble Valley village on Thursday, December 4.

Local historian and ghost walker Simon Entwistle will step into soap star Malcolm Hebden’s shoes and officially open the festivities on the night from 6pm.

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The Coronation Street star, who lives in the village and is best known for playing Norris Cole in the long-running show, raced back from filming in Manchester last year in order to make it on time. Each year the event attracts around 5,000 people to visit the attractions and stalls that line King Street.

This year some of Santa’s reindeers will be attending and Clitheroe-based theatre and production company Ribcaged will be offering a full night of entertainment from the new main stage. Last year’s event saw controversy as bad weather hit the event, causing children’s rides having to be cancelled.

Organisers have said that, all being well, three rides will be available this year in King Street.

Mr Entwistle said: “It’s an honour to have been asked to open such a great event for the village and the Ribble Valley as a whole. Thousands of people are attracted to the village every single year just for this event and it’s wonderful that it has been going on for so long.

“It brings in a lot of trade for the village but also the whole borough and it’s a real asset to the community.

“I have never opened an event quite like this and I’m delighted that that have chosen to ask me.

“It should be great. I hope that it goes on for another 26 years.”

Last year, the benefactors of money raised during the event included, Inbetween Ears, The Whalley and Billington Royal British Legion, Whalley in Bloom and funds supporting a local young resident Naomi Eastham who is joining the SL Volunteers, a group who offer mental health support for people in Sri Lanka effected by the Tsunami in 2012.

Other events in conjunction with the festival include Stalls and Santa at the Methodist Hall in King Street, Valley Voices Choir at the Old Grammar School building, and bell ringing and refreshments at the parish church in Church Lane.

Other VIP guests and local dignitaries will join Mr Entwistle to open the event to the public.