Crowds enjoy the Christmas lights switch-on [Jack Tomkins]

MORE than 3,000 people turned up to celebrate the turning on of the Christmas lights in Angel last weekend at the Glow In The Angel event.

Although rainy weather did its best to dampen the day, spirits were buoyed by a giant polar bear, face painting and firefighters at Saturday’s event in Islington Green, organised by Angel Islington BID, a collection of businesses in the area.

This year it supported Islington Giving, raising £685 for the Angel-based charity’s Winter Appeal and asking people to write out festive postcards with messages of kindness and love for those in the community who may feel isolated over the Christmas period.

Angel Islington BID’s Ben Stephenson said: “We had a great time putting on free craft activities for children, musical performances, giveaways and food, all funded by Angel’s business community, and we can’t wait to do it all again next year.”