THOUSANDS of people lined the streets as Oxford kickstarted it's Christmas Light Festival in style.

Families watched on as a parade of bands and schoolchildren with lanterns lit up the historic streets of the city to mark the start of the festive period.

A lantern procession featuring 180 children from eight of the city's primary schools paraded from Bonn Square, Cornmaket Street, and around the Radcliffe Camera before finishing in Broad Street.

Youngsters made their lanterns from recycled materials and marched with several brass bands whose sounds echoed around the street.

Two centrepiece light shows followed the procession which saw festive images projected on to the Clarendon Building, in Broad Street, by Anomic Multimedia, a firm which has previously been behind dazzling displays at the Tower of London and stages at Glastonbury Festival.

Janet Willis, from central Oxford, who was watching the parade with friends, said she attends to the event every year.

She added: "The lantern procession is the best thing about it. It lights up the streets and it's great to see everyone come out and get together.

"It is a marker for the beginning of the Christmas period."

Terry Vale, from Bicester, added: "The atmosphere is great. It gets the whole city and communities together."

Broad Street will be closed until 11pm as part of the festivities. 

It is the start of three days of music, entertainment and festive shopping that will take place over the weekend. 

On Saturday and Sunday there will also be a Christmas Market in Broad Street, with stalls selling festive gifts, mulled wine and cider, and toys and decorations.

And many of the city’s landmarks will open their doors to visitors, including Oxford University's Ashmolean, Natural History and Pitt Rivers museums, along with the Bodleian Library, Modern Art Oxford, the Story Museum, the Oxford Playhouse and Oxford Ice Rink.

About 100,000 people are expected to visit. It has been organised by Oxford City Council and partly funded by a £15,000 grant from the Arts Council England.

For more information on road closures visit oxfordschristmas.com