Darwen Christmas lights: free show brings Annabel home

Culture & Events Desk 2026-10-14 10:06 3 min read

A decorative train covered in colorful Christmas lights traveling down a city street.

Nine-year-old Annabel Lambert is set to perform in front of a home crowd at the Darwen Christmas Lights Switch-On, alongside Begin2Sing and The Dream Academy’s Nick Laird-Clowes. The public event takes place in Darwen Town Centre on Saturday 14 November 2026. Entry is free, and the source gives no booking requirement.

The performance brings together Darwen’s new community single and a song by the band whose member will join the group on stage. For visitors, the confirmed highlights include live music from Begin2Sing and the lights switch-on ceremony. The source does not state a start time.

Annabel’s Abbey Road visit leads to a home-town performance

Annabel, a pupil at St Paul’s Primary School, won a competition to attend the mastering session for “Shake Off The Rain” at Abbey Road Studios in London. She is one of 20 soloists on the track, the latest release from Begin2Sing, a community singing project led by Paul Stuart Davies, co-founder of Darwen School of Music.

“It was really exciting and cool to get to go to Abbey Road,” Annabel said. Her favourite part was sitting in the producer’s chair and wearing his headphones. The visit gave her a look at how the single was finished; her next confirmed step is to sing her solo part live with Begin2Sing at the switch-on.

Darwen Christmas lights: free show brings Annabel home

The group will also perform “Life In A Northern Town”, the single’s B-side and a cover of The Dream Academy’s 1985 hit. Nick Laird-Clowes, the band’s lead singer and songwriter, is due to join Begin2Sing on stage, linking the community release with the original song featured on its B-side.

What the Begin2Sing project brings to the event

Begin2Sing’s debut single reached number 23 in the iTunes Pop Chart last November. The project runs monthly singing workshops at Sunbird Records in Darwen, funded through a UK Shared Prosperity Fund grant from Blackburn with Darwen Council.

Davies said the project had helped young people grow in confidence through singing. Councillor Quesir Mahmood said the workshops had brought together people who had not sung live before, with participants supporting one another as they prepared to perform. The switch-on appearance gives the project’s singers a public performance alongside Annabel and Laird-Clowes.

Date, location and practical details

The Darwen Christmas Lights Switch-On is on Saturday 14 November 2026 in Darwen Town Centre. It is a free public event, so no ticket price is listed. The source does not provide a start time, booking instructions, transport information or accessibility details; check the event organiser’s information for any updates before setting out.

For details about Begin2Sing and its workshops, the source directs readers to begin2sing.co.uk. The event source is Blackburn with Darwen Council News.

Source: Blackburn with Darwen Council News

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The event date, location, free public entry and named performers were checked against the supplied source text and event details.

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Confirmed the switch-on date as Saturday 14 November 2026.
Matched Darwen Town Centre as the venue and free public entry as the stated cost.
Checked the named performers and songs against the source text.
Kept the start time and other attendance logistics unspecified because they were not provi...

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