Evening
all,
It's
finally the weekend guys! We made it through the working week and lived to tell
the tale.
As you will
all know, it's that time of year where the festivities are starting to begin;
the Christmas stock is starting to appear on the shelves, Christmas songs are creeping
their way into the shop's playlists and even Christmas ads are starting to
appear on the tele with the big players John Lewis and Waitrose having released
their adverts already. Christmas is starting earlier and earlier every year and
it is in fact this topic of 'when should festivities really begin?' that sparks
debate among many people; some get into the spirit soon after Bonfire Night or
even Halloween, whereas others are more 'Bah-humbug'. Whatever your view and
whenever you choose to give in to the festive cheer, there’s no shortage of Christmassy
events and sales on right up until the big day to get you in the mood. For my
hometown of Aylesbury, the festive period started yesterday with the Christmas
lights switch on and let's just say the evening left everyone feeling a bit
short changed, rather than full of festive cheer.
For me, the
Christmas period only officially starts when the lights come on. The other week
I heard George Michael's rendition of ‘Last Christmas' and I cringed. Not
because I have anything against George. In fact, I love a bit of George Michael,
but for me it was just too early. However, now that the
light switch on events are happening I'm much more warmed up and my ears are
much more open to a few cheesy festive tunes.
 |
| The Mix monster with the panto cast switching on the lights |
Aylesbury
residents were already being acclimatised to the impending event with Christmas
decorations going up all around the town in the weeks prior to the switch on. Was
this done to prepare us for the eye-popping spectacle? Perhaps. The evening's festivities
were hosted by a couple of presenters from the local radio station, Mix 96 and
were kicked off with a few local bands. Blushes, a 'Mix 96 discovers' band and
Omyo, winners of the Bucks Got Talent competition. The first band wasn't bad
but perhaps not exactly to my taste. The second band then did a couple of dance/electronic
numbers before the evening's special guests were brought onto the stage to warm
up the crowd ready for the big moment. The special guests were in fact the cast
of this year's Aylesbury Waterside Theatre panto, Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. The kids in the audience clapped and waved their light toys (you know
the "light up Star Wars" that I referred to in my earlier Blackpool Circus post?) as
local star Andy Collins came on stage to talk about the show. He then
introduced us to another of the evening’s special guests, Hi-de-hi star Sue
Pollard who will play the wicked queen in this year’s panto. The parents in the
crowd then all cheered as she ran out and greeted the crowds with a loud “HI-DE-HI!”.
A few other cast members then came to the stage to sing Christmas songs and
then the big moment finally arrived (as did the comically sized 'on/off' lever)
to properly welcome in the festive cheer to Aylesbury town centre.
The whole
crowd chanted “3….2….1!!” and with a pull on the lever, Aylesbury’s lights came
on and lit up the town centre. There was a massive cheer from the audience as
the fireworks started in the sky above Market Square with the Slade Christmas
classic ‘Merry Christmas Everybody’ playing in the background getting everyone in
the festive spirit. Soon, the fireworks were over and with that, the evening’s
entertainment.
 |
| Fireworks above Market Square for the festive celebrations |
So, onto
the shopping centre for late night shopping and discovering the stalls and other
entertainment put on throughout the town centre, right? No. Unfortunately, we
all discovered quite quickly and without explanation, that the stalls and
festivities that were planned for the rest of the night were all shutting. The
event was ended in a rather abrupt fashion. No sooner had the fireworks
stopped, the stalls were starting to close and so was the shopping centre.
Many people
were wandering about wondering why everything was shutting in such a rushed
fashion with the only explanation given that the weather was predicted to be
bad. I know a rubbish excuse when I hear one and this had cover up written all
over it. Ok, so security was probably trying to keep people calm. However, what
security do not realise is that in these situations it is the not knowing and
the lack of information that really gets people riled up. People aren’t stupid
and will know something bigger is going on when everything is shutting, people
are being ordered to leave areas suddenly and plans change without warning. With
everything shutting early, me, mum and her friend decided to go home instead of
wandering around aimlessly. We know where we aren’t wanted! All in all, an
evening that started off to be a night full of festive cheer, soon ended leaving
everyone feeling disappointed. A bit of a damp squib to say the least.
Since last
night, AVDC, partners of the switch on event, released a statement earlier today
saying:
“Unfortunately, the
festivities came to an end sooner than planned because of a warning from the
Thames Valley Police (TVP) of a possible bomb threat.
Aylesbury Vale District Council (AVDC) took advice from TVP and
based on the information available at the time, AVDC decided it had no
alternative other than to end the event early.
AVDC is very grateful to our co-hosts Mix96, the traders and
fairground operatives for taking prompt action when requested by the event
organisers, to the event stewards for helping clear the area, and to the public
for the calm way they dispersed.”
So, after hearing all the excuses and suffering the
disappointment of last night, this statement at least sheds some light on what the
reason was. Once again, more threats of this nature were to blame for ending an
otherwise great local event. Such a shame.
So, Aylesbury’s light switch didn’t go exactly to plan but
let’s hope we can get our act together for when Santa comes to town on Sunday
26th November.
That’s all from me this evening. I will be back next week but
for now have a great weekend!
Share your thoughts :