THE ballot to snap up hot tickets for the Glasgow Christmas lights switch on opens today.

Hundreds of thousands of people made a bid for tickets last year with just 16,000 available for the George Square event.

Entry to the big switch on, on Sunday, November 18, will be by ticket-only.

The ballot opens today at 10am and will be open until 11.59pm on Sunday, October 14. The draw made later in the month.

Last year, 317,184 people applied for tickets - which is more than half the population of Glasgow.

Residents in the city will get priority with 93% of all tickets going to citizens.

Lord Provost, Eva Bolander, said: “The switch-on of the Christmas lights signals the start of Glasgow’s festive celebrations. It’s an incredibly popular family event marking the countdown to the big day.

“Everyone can look forward to the Christmas lights twinkling in George Square until just after New Year.”

A maximum of six tickets can be requested per household, and only one application will be accepted per household.

Organisers are asking people only to apply for the number of tickets they need so none go unused.

The lights switch-on is part of a number of events planned in George Square and the City Centre in the run up to Christmas.

The Style Mile Christmas Carnival takes place on Sunday, November 25 with music and dance in the City Centre streets.

The George Square Christmas Market will open the same day and the St Enoch Christmas Market will open on November 9.

The traditional Blessing of the Crib will be on Wednesday, December 5 in George Square and the hugely popular Santa dash on Sunday, December 9

Entry forms are be available at glasgowloveschristmas.com from 10am.