A SPECIAL guest will be making an appearance at tonight's Victorian Evening in Chipping Sodbury.

As well as Father Christmas, a visitor of the four-legged kind will be dropping in for the town's annual festivities this evening from 3-7pm.

Blazing Saddles, one of the 80 Gromit statues to have been placed around greater Bristol during the summer's Gromit Unleashed trail, will be at St John's Church Centre tonight.

On loan for the event this evening, the fibreglass statue, designed by artist Carys Ink, will be located in Santa's Grotto where children can meet Father Christmas and see the colourful Gromit.

As well as Santa's Grotto, Victorian Evening offers a line-up of seasonal entertainment from 1.30pm until 9.30pm.

Shops will be open late while a stage will see local primary schoolchildren singing Christmas carols throughout the afternoon while a charity fair takes place from 5pm.

Attractions include a Ferris wheel and helter skelter, games and activities, steam organs, barbecues and sweet stalls.

Sodbury Players will perform scenes from their forthcoming pantomime Cinderella and Alfredo the clown and a Punch and Judy show will provide lots of laughter.

There will be dancing from Pure Dance Crew and musical entertainment from Old Sodbury School and Dodington Parish Band with Yate Choral society as well as performances by Bristol Ukulele Jam. Josie and the Outlaws will perform on stage at 7.45pm and 8.50pm.

The town’s pubs, restaurants and cafes will be serving up tempting treats and there will be hot chestnuts for sale, charity barbecues and warming mulled wine stalls.

Chairman Brian Hardy said he hoped people would enter into the spirit of Victorian Evening.

“Following a fantastic event last year, the group drawn from Sodbury Council, Chipping Sodbury Lions and Rotary clubs and the festival society are again running this event,” he said.

“One of the things that makes Victorian Day a success is the atmosphere created, the snow, smell of food, sound of carols and music. But we could make it even better if we could have lots of people dressed Victorian.”

The event coincides with the Crib Festival being held in St John’s Church. The display is open until 9pm on Victorian night.

Broad Street will be closed to traffic during the event.