IT is an event that was aimed at bringing a community together - and this year it's set to be bigger and better than ever.

Totton's Lantern Parade is once again being staged and this year the crowds will be entertained in style.

Topping the bill will be the the FA Cup choir who will be reunited after the triumph of performing in front of a world-wide audience.

They will be performing some Christmas Carols at the parade as well as some well known Christmas hits, led by their choirmaster Steve Thompson.

He said: “We are really looking forward to getting back together for a reunion, but also at this special time of year when we get to celebrate Christmas.’

After the choir performed at the Totton Family Fun Day, the group was immediately invited to switch on the Totton Lights by Cllr Neville Penman.

Cllr Penman said “This will be the best Lantern Parade yet, and will demonstrate that Totton does work together as a community, for the benefit of all. There has been a great team effort on this, headed by the parade initiator Sue Simms. We are anticipating thousands of attendees and look forward to kicking off the Christmas spirit with a bang”.

The parade will take place on December 6, between 3.30pm and 7.30pm and this year will involve a record number of children taking part in the lantern parade itself.

Sue Simms who started the event three years ago said: "This year will see larger numbers of entrants than ever before. “We have to keep the numbers to 500 children plus one parent/adult per child simply due to logistics” said Ms Simms, “but the array of entertainment we have prior to the parade and indeed after the parade will leave people going home happy, looking forward to a wonderful Christmas”, she said.

The Lantern Parade team will be visiting schools and organisations in the run up to the parade to help create the lanterns . Cllr Caroline Rackham, the artistic director of the team said “We only have 500 lanterns which actually is nearly double that of previous years. We do need to keep these numbers tight from a logistical perspective. If you would like your group or school to be involved, you need to pre-register with us.”

The afternoon will kick off in the Library Car Park, Totton with the highly respected Totton Family Fun Day house band performing at 3.30pm. This will be the start of 4 hours of entertainment, fun, games, music and of course The Parade and Lights switch on.