OXFORD’S first ever three-day celebration of Christmas festival kicks off tomorrow with the traditional lantern parade through the city.

Oxford City Council hopes about 90,000 people will attend a host of events from Friday to Sunday, to kick off with Christmas Light Night, where 500 children carry lanterns through Oxford from 6pm to 7pm.

The council hopes the Oxford’s Christmas festival will prove a major hit and become a firm favourite on the county’s calendar but also prove an international hit like Munich’s Oktoberfest.

The council said the best viewing points for the lantern parade will be in Cornmarket Street as well as St Giles, where the parade will finish at about 6.45pm.

The event has been held since 2005 and draws 20,000 to 30,000 people and city council Labour leader Bob Price said it has opened the door to a wider celebration.

He said: “Having got it all together for one night it seems like a sensible policy to carry it on.

“This year is aimed at local people. Obviously you hope it will encourage people to come in and do some Christmas shopping from the county and beyond.”

Yet he said the three-day event is an “experiment” as the impact on the city — particularly the closure of St Giles for a three-day market — needs to be studied afterwards.

He said: “If it is successful we would like it to be something with the same dimension as the big autumn events, Oktoberfest for instance or the St Giles' Fair.”

He said the weekend will cost about £100,000 which, after sponsorship from firms like BMW Mini, will see the council put in about £10,000.

Graham Jones, spokesman for the city traders’ association ROX (Rescue Oxford), said: “We hope it is a success but it is going to be a little bit of an experiment.

“If it doesn’t work right for businesses in the city then there will need to be a re-think next year.”