The ever popular Gravesham Festival of Christmas Lights returned to the Town Centre again to mark the beginning of the festive period this year on Friday 22nd November. The festival was organised by Kent Equality Cohesion Council and Cohesion Plus in partnership with Gravesham Borough Council and proved to be one of the biggest to date with additional support provided by Barron Edwards Architects and Arts Council England.

13 local schools and some 600 young people benefitted from workshops in the build-up to the event which was delivered by Same Sky Arts. Around 3,500 attendees participated in the celebrations on the day including the Mayor of Gravesham, Councillor Gurdip Bungar along with Deputy Lord Lieutenant Rosemary Dymond and representatives from various faith and community organisations.

The celebrations climaxed on Community Square where the CEO of KECC Gurvinder Sandher thanked the schools, partners and sponsors who helped make the event so memorable. The Christmas tree lights were then switched on following a countdown led by the Mayor of Gravesham.

Gurvinder Sandher the CEO of KECC commented “The whole ethos of our organisation is to bring communities together to promote cohesion and celebrate all that binds us together. The celebrations in Gravesham were the climax of a busy year where we have worked across the county promoting the message of unity. I’m very grateful to my small team and all the volunteers who have given up their valuable time to support not just this event but all our other work around Kent. I’m particularly proud of our long standing partnership with Gravesham Borough Council who have championed our work over many years.”