MALTON’S Milton Rooms is lining up a great seasonal feast of traditional Christmas music, children’s entertainment, Santa fun, a taste of Dickens and a new play next month.

The festive programme opens with the joyful classic winter children’s story, The Little Match Girl.

This is a fun, festive twist on the well-known tale told through puppets and song by the Moon on a Stick puppetry company.

The beautiful, playful production, transforms the stage into a stunning snowy spectacle, complete with Christmas carols and audience interaction. It is ideal for children aged three and over, providing a perfect family alternative to the usual pantomime.

The Little Match Girl is on Sunday, December 6. Tickets from the Milton Rooms are £4 per child (with one adult free with each child).

The Great Malton Santa Fun Run 2015, raising funds for Ryedale Special Families, takes place in the Market Place on Sunday, December 13, with three runs for children and adults. The event is being followed by an afternoon of children’s Christmas activities and Santa's grotto in the Milton Rooms.

Fun run application forms will be available from Yorkshire Building Society in Malton or Pickering, or downloadable from ryedalespecialfamilies.org.uk

Headlining Malton’s first Dickensian Festival this Christmas will be BAFTA award-winning star of Harry Potter, Miriam Margolyes, in a one-woman show at the Milton Rooms on Friday, December 18.

Miriam has been a life-long fan and scholar of Dickens and will bring alive the spirit of Dickens work and Malton’s links with one of his most popular books, A Christmas Carol. Tickets will be £10 (£4 for children).

Festival organiser Clair Challenor-Chadwick said: “The message of the book around caring for those less fortunate at Christmas is a beautiful one to spread during the festive season. Malton is a truly magical setting for the old-fashioned romance of Christmas.”

There will be no better way to enter into the Christmas spirit than the Christmas Feast of traditional music with the York Chapter House Choir, which is celebrating its 50th birthday when it comes to the Milton Rooms on Saturday, December 19.

The Chapter House Choir has built-up a reputation as one of the North of England’s foremost amateur chamber choirs. Its annual sell-out Carols by Candlelight concerts in York have become a highlight of the city’s Christmas diary.

The choir’s debut at the Milton Rooms, with canapes from Malton Relish and fine wines, promises to be an unforgettable evening. Tickets are £15, (£10 for under 18s) including canapes.

And the family theme of Christmas is reflected in the new play in the Milton Rooms Studio on Friday, December 11. Written and directed by the Milton Rooms own programme organiser, Libby Pearson, and performed by the Pickering-based touring theatre company Clap Trap Productions.

Broken, tells the emotional and engaging story of young Ellie returning to the family home after working overseas to find that she is no longer the centre of everyone’s world. Friendships, partnerships and family bonds are tested to their limits. Which of them will survive the impact?

The style of the Clap Trap theatre company is ideally suited to the intimate atmosphere of the Studio and will bring audience and actors up close and personal. Tickets are £10.

Tickets for all shows are available from the Milton Rooms box office or phone 01653 696240.