Lighting up time

Not the greatest photo ever, but never mind.

Today was the annual Holt Christmas Lights switch-on.  In previous years it has always been a big event; road through the town closed, a band playing on the back of a lorry, a parade through the town and a firework display.  This year was different.  I don't know all the details but it seemed there was some sort of social media spat which resulted in the Chairman of the Lights Committee resigning.  As a result it looked as though nothing would happen but a group of business owners got together and organised a different event.  There was no road closure, no parade, and no fireworks but quite frankly, I thought it was a much better experience than before.  The town had previously been so busy that you couldn't get near enough to see the parade, the band weren't particularly Christmassy, and once the fireworks were over everyone pretty much went home.

We wandered down to town about 5pm.  There had been different events all day, mainly aimed at children.  When we got there, there were lots of different music events in different places; a band playing out of the greengrocers, the local vinyl shop playing dance music, quite a few food and drink stalls, and lots of shops decorated for the evening.  We had a wander around before calling at Chubby Seal for a drink; very busy but we ended up having a good chat with a nice guy who shared our table.  After we left, we spotted the Sheringham Shantymen singing outside the bar, and stood for quite a while watching them.  The photo is of them in full song.

It may not have drawn as many people to the town as in previous years but for me, it was a much more enjoyable evening.  And I may be wrong, but I suspect the people who were there were spending more money per head locally than in previous years.