Chester Christmas Lights

How many of you attended the Chester Christmas Lights switch on last Thursday? If you did, what did you think of it? I went and to be honest, I found it a bit disappointing.

Chester Christmas Lights

Chester Christmas Lights

Why did I find the Chester Christmas lights switch on disappointing? Well, first of all it was so packed you could hardly move. That of course is of no fault of the organisers to be fair. They can not legislate how many people are to turn up. But it was absolutely chocca. To the extent on occasions you were just shuffling along carefully keeping an eye on the people immediately in front of you.

I particularly felt sorry for the small children. And the poor dogs. The dogs in particular seemed to be inadvertently getting a bit of a buffeting as the throngs moved along.

Communication Could Have Been Better

I’m not sure if we missed something but I cannot recall there being any sort of communication notifying everyone as to what was happening. To the best of my knowledge, the lights were to be turned on at 7pm. No lights turned on at 7pm. Still nothing at 7.10pm. But more importantly, no announcement to let everyone know when the lights were to be turned on.

Maybe there’s an electrical fault? Still, no lights at 7.15pm. So, a trip to Blackstock’s Chippy by the Dublin Packet was looking even more inviting by the minute. Best chips in Chester? I’ll let you decide. But they are very good to say the least. Cooked in pine oil I believe. The fish was mega as well.

Surely the lights will be on at 7.45 ish when we were leaving Blackstock’s? Nope!! Still no lights. Again, in the absence of any sort of announcement we decided to make our way to St Werburgh’s Street and walk through town that way. While walking towards the Cathedral I asked a few people what was happening. They didn’t know either. So I asked a Police Officer what was happening. He said as far as he was aware, the lights were to be turned on after the Parade returned to the Town Hall.

Sure enough a few minutes later, the Parade appeared. The Parade looked good in fairness and then the lights came on at about the same time as a brief flurry of fireworks and an appearance by Santa on the top of the Town Hall.

As I said, we may have missed something, but there were others as much in the dark. I cannot recall hearing any announcements.

Should There Have Been A Master Of Ceremonies?

With so many people populating a fairly spread area, a central Master of Ceremonies would have been ideal. Not sure why there wasn’t one. Still, the weather was fine at least. It was a very mild evening. And, from what I saw of the Parade, the participants seemed to be enjoying themselves. They interacted well with the crowd alongside the route as well – particularly the children. That was good.

Christmas Market Stalls.

I spoke to a few market stallholders. They were generally saying that trade was quiet despite the size of the crowds. I suggested to one that maybe people turned up for the lights only and not to start any Christmas shopping. No doubt, they will get busier as we get nearer to Christmas.

One stall I did see very busy was Geoff Mesney’s burger stall. The queue was huge. It’s good to say to see Geoff still flipping his burger’s. Me and Geoff go back some 40 years or more and fair do’s, he has done well for locals and tourists alike with the fast food delicacies he serves.

Chester Market

What I did notice was that the Forum entrance was locked up. So, the market and stores in the Forum were closed. Was this as a result of the market stallholders making I wonder? Or, was the market and the Forum closed by the authorities? If the latter, then I wonder why that was the case? Would they not have benefitted by the huge crowds present?

If anyone knows why the Forum was closed then let me know.

In Conclusion

Despite the apparent lack of communication, it seemed that there were many that enjoyed the occasion. I’m not sure if I would attend again next year if it was to be organised in the same way. Add an MC, or a PA announcer and a countdown to the lights being turned on, then that would be more appealing for me.

Anyway, what did you think? Did you enjoy the Chester Christmas Lights? Let me know.