It’s that time again already! Kick off the festive season in style Coventry’s Christmas lights switch-on.

X-Factor 2017 winners Rak-Su will be headlining the celebrations, fresh from their hugely successful tour supporting fellow former show victors Little Mix.

The yuletide celebrations begin at 5PM on November 21, with Broadgate transformed into a winter wonderland. There’s plenty of entertainment planned with Rak-Su to perform a selection of their chart-topping hits.

The Christmas lights switch-on coincide with the launch of Coventry’s free, public WiFi coverage, provided by Yorkshire based IntechnologyWiFi.

The blanket, superfast WiFi connection is free to use and available to all within the Broadgate area. The launch will mark the start of Coventry’s free WiFi rollout, with further availability planned across the wider city centre through early 2019.

IntechnologySmartCities has already enjoyed successful deployments in towns and cities across the UK and recently topped 1 million users for their free WiFi service.

Rob Woollard, Head of Product at IntechnologySmartCities, said: “Coventry is going to become one of the first places in the UK to have a city-wide IoT network.”

“This will make the city more aware of itself, allowing public service providers to respond in real time to challenges and opportunities and use the network data to improve working processes and decision making.”

“Innovators can use the network to build exciting new applications to boost productivity, encourage healthy living, save energy and make homes more comfortable. We are excited to be investing in Coventry and rolling out our technology to connect, inform and engage users for the benefit of everyone with a stake in the success of the next UK City of Culture.”

The next generation wireless service offers blanket, seamless connectivity for users and is just one of the innovations Coventry can look forward to in the near future.

Further information on the Coventry WiFi service can be found at our microsite. Launching in unison with the city centre WiFi is Citi-Wise, a website and mobile application for residents and visitors, providing great recommendations on what to see and do in the city; from restaurant recommendations to hotel bookings.

We’re excited about working in partnership with Coventry Council in its vision to support economic development, local businesses, community engagement and social and digital inclusion, with the introduction of free WiFi just the next step in fostering growth in the Coventry area.

A perfect Christmas present for the city.

Join the festivities for Coventry Christmas lights switch-on from 5PM on November 21 on Broadgate, in the city centre.

Photo: Coventry CC