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Oldham will glow again this autumn when the Illuminate Light Night festival returns, bringing Blackpool-style light art to the town centre streets for one evening in 2026.

The free event, first run locally in 2022, turns shopfronts, walls and parks into a walking trail of projections, lanterns and interactive installations after dark.

Katie Price has also picked Oldham for her stage comeback, starring in the Plaza's Easter panto from late March 2025, her first northern panto since 2011.

Last winter's Christmas lights switch-on drew thousands to Parliament Square, where children's favourite Bluey and Corrie actor Peter Rush pressed the button.

Culture bosses say the twin bookings of the festival and panto are meant to keep footfall rising in the town centre, a goal helped by a fresh £168,560 grant for Northmoor Library announced last spring.