IT was beginning to look a lot like Christmas in Stockton at the weekend as part of a winter festival.

Stockton Sparkles festival continued over Saturday and Sunday with the appearance of “the Balloonatic, who entertained shoppers and visitors to the town centre.

The street performance involved actors in a giant festive balloon outfits riding a Segway along Stockton High Street.

The Snow Queen also put in an appearance with her comedy sidekick, gliding around the town centre on her Victorian-style sleigh, pulled by white birds.

A Victorian fair is also in the town centre for the duration of the festival, which ends on Christmas Eve.

The free rides include a traditional carousel and a ferris wheel, for a birds-eye view of the town’s Christmas lights.

This Sunday at 2pm Santa will take part in a reindeer parade, starting at the Parish Church at the top of the High Street and finishing outside the Town Hall.