Dame Meera Syal and her husband, Unforgotten star Sanjeev Bhaskar, will switch on the Highgate Village Christmas lights this year.
The switch-on takes place on Thursday, 26 November, in Pond Square, with an afternoon of festive events building up to the big moment.
From 3pm, Santa’s Grotto will be located in The Crown pub in High Street, where children under 10 and their parents can say hello to Father Christmas.
From 4pm, the Highgate Brass Ensemble will play Christmas tunes and festive favourites in Pond Square, with organisers promising “surprise treats and special guests”.
The official switch-on takes place from 4.30pm to 5pm on the terrace outside the new Superette, with Highgate local Alex Zane once again hosting the festive fun.
Every year, the event draws a crowd to Pond Square for an evening of music, mulled wine and mince pies, and seasonal cheer. Last year’s switch-on drew huge crowds to the square.
Last year it was the turn of Highgate resident and Harry Potter star Rupert Grint to turn on the Christmas lights, with the line: “Highgatus Iluminatus”. Grint and broadcaster Alex Zane are both Highgate residents and have previously turned on the lights in the village.
This year the wand — or baton — has been handed to the well-known couple, who have lived in Highgate for many years.
Dame Meera is a comedian, actress, writer, playwright and novelist who is a familiar face from numerous television roles, while Bhaskar is a writer, actor and broadcaster most recently seen as DI Sunny Khan in the long-running cold case thriller Unforgotten.
The Christmas lights switch-on is organised by a team of volunteers with the help of local sponsors, including Channing and Highgate schools, the Highgate Society, developers Riverstone and solicitors Streathers Daynes Smith.
This year they have launched a JustGiving appeal for £10,000 to help make the event possible. The appeal has so far raised £670 towards the target, with organisers saying that this year they have no funding from either Camden or Haringey Council.
“Highgate Village Christmas lights are only possible by way of kind donations from residents, shopkeepers, other businesses, advertisers and sponsors,” the organisers said.
It is one of several festive switch-ons across London this month, after Covent Garden’s lights were switched on and Oxford Street set a world record at its switch-on.
