Will locations switch off to festive lights ceremonies in Christmases to come?

Live events, such as Christmas lights switch-ons, have been a staple feature in the calendars of towns and cities for generations – a way to bring people together to celebrate all a place has to offer.

Whether it’s a carnival, street parade, musical showcase or festive event, these dates in the diary place your town in the spotlight in a positive way, drawing in visitors, highlighting all your attractions and allowing retailers and other businesses to show what they can offer.

The pandemic has forced transformation in all areas of life on a scale never seen before, and live events have clearly been hit hard by the past 12 months.

With 12 months of restrictions of some form or another, most events in the calendar will have been affected, whether held as a stripped-back version or cancelled completely.

Christmas lights switch-ons were no exception. A highlight in the year of any city, town or village, they herald the beginning of the festive season with the push of a plunger.

Gathered crowds of expectant faces usually gather on some frosty-aired evening in late November/early December to watch as a twinkly lights display illuminates the high street. For many people, it marks the start of their Christmas – a chance to get out to support the place they call home and make a start on their festive shopping. Long after the button is pressed, Christmas trees and lights displays can provide a draw for visitors to come into a town centre, bringing with them their spending power and the other knock-on effects of repeated footfall.

But do you really need an all-singing, all-dancing switch-on each Christmas? Has COVID-19 proven things can be done a different way and be just as effective?

How did towns usually mark the start of Christmas?

In many places up and down the UK, the Christmas lights events of old generally involved a celebrity or local personality standing beside community dignitaries to press the button. Perhaps there was some musical entertainment beforehand – a school choir or even a chart act, before speeches from organisers and invited guests. But sometimes this isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

In November 2009, at least 60 people were injured in Birmingham when crowds breached a security barrier at a Christmas lights switch-on headlined by X Factor band JLS. Organisers had expected to draw crowds of between 15,000 to 20,000, but more than 30,000 people turned up, forcing the event to be prematurely cancelled.

A council in the Welsh town of Pontypool was left disappointed in 2011 when the Mr Men characters it booked to turn on its Christmas lights couldn’t reach the switch. Mr Bump and Little Miss Sunshine met children on the night but were unable to lift their arms high enough, so the town council chairman did the honours. The event hit the headlines with the town council complaining almost a quarter of the lights budget had gone on the special guests.

Clearly the examples of switch-on events going right outnumber the so-called “fails”, but the events of 2020 forced a rethink on how towns tackled this date in the calendar – and change is not necessarily a bad thing.

Did Christmas 2020 shine as brightly?

 In short, yes. The phrase “with a difference” popped up in what must have been the majority of festive news stories as new ways of working had to be found to mark Christmas 2020. Christmas lights switch-on events were one of those highlights that had to be done differently.

Places either opted not to mark the occasion or held a much stripped-back version, minus the crowds.

For many, following a year when key workers were the heroes, Christmas was a time to celebrate the valuable contributions of those in our communities. Manchester’s usual celebrations were replaced with a small socially distanced event at Manchester Cathedral, which was live streamed on social media and broadcast on local radio and TV stations for people to enjoy safely at home. Three NHS workers were given the honour of pushing the button, joined by some of the city’s front-line health and social care workers.

Despite being held virtually for the first time in its history, Leeds’ switch-on featured performances by global superstar John Newman, 1980s legend John Parr, local rock bands and others in a festive extravaganza that was available to watch on YouTube and Facebook.

The remote nature of the event also enabled some community participation with the city council asking residents to submit video clips and images of their Christmas light displays at home so they could feature in a dazzling digital montage. Comments afterwards praised organisers for the effort, with some suggesting a live broadcast could be a regular addition.

How Viva helped light up Blackburn at Christmas

2020 forced Blackburn BID to go against the norm. Rather than feeling restrictive, the need to change things up allowed Blackburn BID and Viva to think outside the box and freshen up one of the biggest festivals of the year.

Visitors were asked to Believe in Blackburn town centre as the celebrations were reimagined using funding from Arts Council England to create a Christmas programme that animated, supported and engaged people with the town centre – in a safe way. The funding was spent on delivering an architectural projection lighting installation for Blackburn Town Hall from November until early January, enabling celebrations to take place whatever restrictions were in place at the time.

Each projection ‘show’, at a few minutes long, ran continuously from dusk, enabling people to see it in a safer way than over a limited time period. Running up to Christmas, the projections changed several times to include Remembrance-themed images a virtual version of Blackburn Festival of Light, animated illustrations on the theme of Believe in the Magic of Blackburn town centre and pictures of local people capturing their 2020 experience to bring in the new year.

At the time, BID manager Catherine Price said the pandemic had offered the opportunity to “reimagine” Christmas and provide celebrations in a safe and engaging way.

Will Christmas lights switch-ons return post-pandemic?

Towns and cities will have decisions to make when it comes to future Christmas seasons. Some may choose to return to the previous way of doing things and that, of course, has always worked well pre-pandemic. Others may cast their eye over the impact of 2020 and assess whether a big switch-on extravaganza – with the organisational costs, policing and knock-on effects of potential litter and associated clean-up – is really necessary when it comes to bringing people in to a place.

Leeds announced in March that it was axing its 2021 switch-on as it attempted to plug a funding hole, and other locations may follow suit.

If 2020 has shown us anything it is that adaptability and a break from the norm can be just as effective.