Audiences at the Darwen Christmas lights switch on this weekend are set to be dazzled by boyband Boyz on Block.

The four-man group is made up of Shane Lynch from BoyZone, Ben Ofoedu of Phats and Small, Abz Love from Five and Dane Bowers of Another Level.

Hosted by Blackburn with Darwen Council, Darwen Town Centre and Darwen Town Council, celebrations will begin at 11am on Saturday, when Crafty Vintageโ€™s Christmas Markets officially open.

Here are a few things you need to know about this weekend's lights switch on and Christmas markets event:

๐–๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐ญ๐ข๐ฆ๐ž ๐ฐ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐‚๐ก๐ซ๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ๐ฆ๐š๐ฌ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ๐ฌ ๐›๐ž ๐ฌ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐œ๐ก๐ž๐ ๐จ๐ง?

The Christmas lights will be switched on at 6pm on Saturday.

Stage entertainment will begin at 2pm and continue after the big switch on.

The Crafty Vintage Christmas markets will be open 11am till 8pm on Saturday and 11am till 4pm on Sunday.

๐–๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž๐ซ๐ž ๐›๐ž ๐Ÿ๐ข๐ซ๐ž๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ค๐ฌ?

Organisers made the decision not to have fireworks at this year's event, allowing them instead to invest in a variety of new entertainment.

Several factors influenced the decision, including the negative environmental impact of fireworks.

Rest assured that there will be lots of exciting surprises on offer, including fire dancers, walkabout performers, fairground rides and more.

๐‚๐š๐ง ๐ˆ ๐›๐ฎ๐ฒ ๐š๐ฅ๐œ๐จ๐ก๐จ๐ฅ ๐จ๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ฆ๐š๐ซ๐ค๐ž๐ญ ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฎ๐š๐ซ๐ž?

There will be a stall at the Christmas markets selling alcohol, including festive drinks such as mulled wine.

Please remember that this is a family event, and anyone attending is kindly asked that they consume alcoholic drinks near the stall, rather than taking them into the entertainment area.

People are welcome to visit other town centre bars, pubs and restaurants before or after coming down to enjoy the entertainment.

๐‚๐š๐ง ๐ˆ ๐›๐ฎ๐ฒ ๐Ÿ๐จ๐จ๐ ๐จ๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ฆ๐š๐ซ๐ค๐ž๐ญ ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฎ๐š๐ซ๐ž?

Similarly, there will be an outdoor market stall offering artisan food such as pizzas, burgers and hotdogs, and people are more than welcome to support town centre cafes, bars and delis during the day.

Organisers anticipate that several cafes will open later than usual for hungry visitors.

Make sure to check out the social media profiles of your favourite places to see if they are putting on any festive food/drink, and changing their opening hours etc.

A spokesperson for Crafty Vintage said: "We're so excited to see you for a fantastically festive weekend in Darwen. It's going to be brilliant."