Christmas has well and truly arrived in Brighton as the city’s Christmas lights are now turned on!
HUNDREDS of festive party-goers got into the feel-good spirit on Thursday, November 15, as the annual Christmas lights switch-on took place on East Street.
The event organised by Brilliant Brighton (formed of 517 city centre businesses who collectively pay the £75,000 cost to light up Brighton at Christmas) was in association with Capital Brighton the Rockinghorse Children’s Charity and sponsored by Legal & General.
The free festive party, compered by Dave and Miranda from Capital Brighton’s Breakfast Show, saw some of Brighton’s best talent perform, welcoming in the festive season in true style.
Vintage-inspired swing group, Hit the Silk serenaded the crowd with their toe-tapping tunes, Actually Gay Men’s Chorus performed rousing a cappella Christmas carols and Brighton buskers Ren and Sam Tompkins wowed the crowds with their fresh takes on chart classics.
17-year-old singer-songwriter Jack Rose (who has just finished supporting Faith Evans on her UK tour and is also the host of Amazon TV series Ghost Hunting With Jack Rose), also took to the stage adding further festive cheer.
The all-important job of counting down and switching the lights on went to inspiring 15-year-old fundraiser Jake Heal from Hove (who, despite having the rare genetic Prader-Willi Syndrome, has raised over £4,000 for Rockinghorse Children’s Charity by taking part in their i360 iDrop Abseil), accompanied by Rockinghorse trustee and CBeebies presenter Sid Sloane and Santa Claus.
The event also featured a fundraising giveaway for Rockinghorse Children’s Charity with prizes including a three course meal for two from Terre a Terre, deluxe hampers from Marks and Spencer, a lunch for two with Prosecco from Sugardough and gift vouchers from Punktured, Donatello, Rieker, Phase Eight and Ann Summers all being won.
Gavin Stewart, CEO of Brilliant Brighton said: “We love organising the Christmas lights-switch on and it was brilliant to see so many people celebrating the start of the festive season with us.”
“Thank you to Capital Brighton and Rockinghorse for helping us to host the community Christmas event, as well as our Christmas lights sponsor, Legal & General for assisting us to light up the city for locals and visitors to enjoy during the festive period.”
As well as sponsoring the city’s Christmas lights, Legal & General also support Brilliant Brighton’s late night shopping event on Thursday, December 13, which sees 500+ city centre shops, restaurants and cafes stay open ‘till 8pm – with plenty of entertainment, in-store events and offers to make picking up those last few presents a truly enjoyable experience.
Photo by Jamie MacMillan
