Covid has put the kibosh on an official party.

However, Cork City Council has announced that Cork City will light up for Christmas and although there will not be a public event to mark the switch-on, every street will be set to twinkling this week.

Since early November, eight staff members and a crew of ten electricians have been placing lighting around the city and suburbs, along with erecting and decorating up to 50 trees Christmas trees, using 117,320 low-watt energy-efficient LED units.

In total, 7.4 km of lights will glisten throughout the city this Christmas, creating the perfect atmosphere for GLOW, A Cork Christmas Celebration, which returns to Cork and will take place on the following weekends:

• Friday 26th November to Sunday 28th November
• Friday 3 December to Sunday 5th December
• Friday 10th December to Sunday 12th December
• Friday 17th December to Sunday 19th December

Bishop Lucey Park will be transformed into a ‘Twelve Days of Christmas’ festive wonderland with a 30m Ferris wheel remaining in place until early January (pre-booking at glowcork.ie).

“The switching on of the Christmas city lights officially marks the start of the countdown to Christmas in Cork.” said Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr. Colm Kelleher.

“I am delighted to see Cork look so festive this year in what has been a very challenging 12 months as Covid 19 continues to impact on all our lives. I would like everyone to stay safe, to support Cork businesses and to shop locally this Christmas.”