PORTISHEAD will turn the clocks back on Friday for the town’s annual Victorian evening.

The smell of roasting chestnuts and mulled wine will waft into the High Street from 6.30pm, when the road will be closed to allow the town centre to be transformed into an old fashioned street market.

Scores of stalls will allow charities, community groups and traders to promote their cause and sell their wares, while shops will stay open into the evening.

There will be small, traditional fairground rides and stalls. A stage on the forecourt at Tudor Garage will present the Elim carol singers, the 15-piece fiddle band, Highly Strung and Portishead Concert Band, while street dancers Audacity, from Portishead Youth Centre, will also perform.

The Victorian Evening will also see Portishead churches unveil a new project.

In the summer Portishead Churches Together invited the community to The Big Lunch to celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. Following on from this, to celebrate Christmas, they will launch The Big Picture.

A stable will be set up in the High Street and people will be invited to dress up as one of the nativity characters and have their photo taken in the scene, along with friends and family. The photos will then be uploaded to the Big Picture website, where they can be printed, emailed or shared on social media for free.

A church spokesman said: “People have heard the Christmas story every year since they were born and this is their chance to be in it.”

Both stall holders and visitors are encouraged to enter in to the spirit of the Victorian evening and dress up in Victorian costume.