Thirsk Christmas Light Switch On...

This year, the annual celebration that is the switching-on of the Christmas lights in Thirsk, almost co-incides with the start of the Christian Advent Festival.

The run-up to the the festive season seems to get longer and longer, we seem to have walked through a gauntlet of ever increasingly elaborate seasonal baubles at the Garden Centre, most of them good news for the manufacturers of the batteries to power them!

However, there was nothing low-powered about the Friday night brouhaha that attended the switch on.

The Market Place was adorned with a stage, a magnifying big screen, several fairground rides, and a great deal of noise.

Before the arrival of Santa (elevated in an illuminated carriage, precariously balanced on top of a tractor hoist) to push the red button, we were treated to a glittering variety show, with out local version of “Strictly Come Dancing”, singing and general buffoonery courtesy of local commercial radio station YO1.

Now we have our tree lit up, buildings outlined with strings of fairy lights, and the entry and exits to the town centre adorned with seasonal greetings.



(To read the rest of this article go along to your nearest stockist and buy a copy of the paper)