Four weeks of festive fun come to a close with the return of Great Yarmouth's annual Christmas Lantern Parade on Wednesday, December 23.

Eastern Daily Press: Four weeks of festive fun come to a close with the return of Great Yarmouth’s annual Christmas Lantern Parade on Wednesday 23 December. Mahogany Carnival, pictured, will perform.Four weeks of festive fun come to a close with the return of Great Yarmouth’s annual Christmas Lantern Parade on Wednesday 23 December. Mahogany Carnival, pictured, will perform. (Image: Supplied)

Local artist Jankie D has been running workshops with schools and community groups to make beautiful hand-crafted lanterns that will light up the town on Wednesday evening.

This year the lantern-bearers will be joined by an array of street performers, including stilt-walkers, musicians and Mahogany Carnival's stunning giant swans.

Mahogany Carnival have performed all over the world, including at the London 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony and the Golden Jubilee Celebrations. They will bring their gorgeous gigantic puppets to Great Yarmouth for the first time.

The parade will start from Christchurch at 6.30pm and will move along King Street to finish in the marketplace, where it will be greeted by the town's traditional Lantern Parade visitors, real Christmas reindeer.

Aspiring lantern-makers can still get involved with lantern workshops taking place at Great Yarmouth Library tomorrow, Saturday, December 19 from 11am - 3pm, and on Wednesday, December 23 from 10.30am - 1pm.

The workshops are free to attend, and are open to all ages (children must be accompanied by an adult). There is no need to book, just come along.

The Lantern Parade has been organised by the Town Centre Partnership and SeaChange Arts, who have been working together to programme a series of events during the Halloween and Christmas periods.