Wrexham Gets Lit Up – Despite The Weather!
Wrexham.com, along with local companies Rampant Dragon and Lateral Arc joined forces with the Council over the past few months to plan and put together the Christmas Light Switch on for Wrexham. Despite a day marred by bad weather (which led to flooding in some areas) with gusts of up to 47mph in the town centre, the event went ahead as the brave people of Wrexham came down to Queens Square to join in with the festivities!
The free event had a ‘Wrexham’ theme showcasing local artists, plus the Wrexham.com competition to win the chance to ‘plunge the plunger’ alongside rugby legend Gareth Thomas. Unfortunately the high winds meant we had to cancel some market stalls, but that didn’t dampen the fun of the mini-fairground and the entertainment on stage, which included performances from Delta Academy and the Stiwts Pantomime Cast!
Calon FM compered the evening which began at 5:15pm with Tudur and Ani from S4C’s STWNSH taking to the stage.
Gareth Thomas was the big name for the evening, and he was obviously very excited about it as he took to twitter before the event to say : “My fav day of the week is here. Coming to Wrexham to turn on Xmas lights!!!!!;) can’t wait to see everyone.#secondhome”
The winner of our Christmas light switch on competition Phil Roberts also nominated youngster Liam Haycock to switch the lights on. They made their way to the stage around at 7PM along with Gareth Thomas and together the count began and the lights were switched on! To coincide with the lights brightening up the streets of Wrexham town centre, a spectacular fireworks display got underway, where one of us was lucky enough to be observing from behind the scenes!
In a fitting finale, local band Heal the Last Stand performed for those revellers who hadn’t headed into town to take advantage of the start of Wrexham’s Christmas late night shopping opening times.
On the night we had lots of great feedback; one observer, who was supping a pint of Wrexham Lager, said “Its great this is on, I heard Cardiff’s was cancelled and was thinking Wrexham would follow”. Another loved the free glowsticks being handed out saying “It makes a change to get something for free rather than having to pay – my kids love it”. Although we did spot several adults clutching glow sticks as well!
The local paper based media joined in the online communities with praise for the event :
Winds of up to 47mph were predicted, despite temperatures remaining around 10C throughout the evening. Heavy rain with lashings of rain hit during the afternoon but it was reassuring to see there was no lack of enthusiasm from the droves of Wrexhamites who descended on Queen’s Square throughout the evening.
Gallery of images…
What did you think of the Christmas lights switch on? Join the conversation on Twitter by following @wrexham or chat to others about it in our forums.
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