FESTIVE lights were switched on in Evesham, Pershore and Droitwich over the weekend, signalling the start of the holiday season.
Kicking off on Friday in Evesham, Father Christmas himself joined the mayor, councillor Mark Goodge, to switch on the lights.
“Great turnout for the Christmas lights switch-on, hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did,” said councillor Goodge.
The fun continued throughout the weekend, with the first-ever Artisan Christmas Fayre taking place across the town,
Organised by the team behind the Battle of Evesham, the Fayre featured live music and 75 traders inspired by different historical eras.
Across the country, many had suggested that Christmas lights were unnecessary given the current cost-of-living crisis.
However, the town clerk for Droitwich, Mark Keld, explained that people shouldn’t be put off enjoying the festive fun.
He said: “The infrastructure is part of the ongoing year-on-year contractual arrangements and the energy consumption is efficient and relatively small by proportion.
“The overall Christmas lighting provision is well within the scope of existing budget arrangements and it is not anticipated that this will have any adverse effect on finance allocations during the year.
“The lights and the switch-on event last Saturday were enjoyed and very well supported by the community in Droitwich Spa.”
On Sunday it was Pershore’s turn to get into the Christmas spirit.
Town clerk Ann Dobbins said: “It was great to see so many people in town, not only in the gardens where we had stalls but also lining the streets for the arrival of Santa and his sleigh and the switch-on.”
She added that all of the town’s lights are LEDs and last year’s power bill was under £250.
The mayor, councillor Matthew Winfield, said: "I’d like to express my thanks to everyone who made the event possible; it was one of the best-attended we’ve seen in years.
"While I understand some people’s concerns about steep electricity bills, I think the benefits of putting-up lights outweigh the costs and brings much-needed cheer at a time when cheer is so desperately needed."
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