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22
Nov
Will Harrogate’s Christmas lights switch-on event ever return?
Ripon had its Christmas lights switch-on last Saturday; Knaresborough will follow on Friday (November 28) and Boroughbridge will do likewise on December 3.
But what about Harrogate?
The town now has two business groups and a town council but has not held a Christmas lights switch-on since pre-covid.
On Wednesday, Harrogate Business Improvement District posted on social media that the town’s festive lights, which it funds, were now on.
It added: “Harrogate BID is extremely proud to fund each and every single Christmas light in the town, making the town dazzle each year.”
But there was no switch-on occasion — why?
Knaresborough's Bright Friday attracts large crowds for the switch-on of the lights.
Although the BID pays for the lights, it has argued that a switch-on event doesn’t generate enough income to justify the costs. The BID is funded by town centre businesses and needs to justify any spending to them.
This year’s creation of Harrogate Town Council appeared to herald a change.
Speaking last year, Chris Aldred, who is now a Harrogate town councillor and the mayor, said a lights switch-on event was “an example of something the incoming Harrogate Town Council would consider taking on for Christmas 2025”.
He added:
When I worked as town centre manager in Skipton from 2004 to 2007, it was something Skipton Town Council chose to do and the events were supported by residents, businesses and visitors.
Knaresborough Town Council and Ripon City Council fund switch-on events in their areas through the cost of the parish precept paid by local council taxpayers.
So the creation of Harrogate Town Council appeared to pave the way for the same thing to happen in Harrogate.
'Not pushing for one'
When we asked Cllr Aldred why it hadn’t pursued the issue this year, he said the town’s precept of £12.73 for a Band D household didn’t stretch that far.
Harrogate’s precept is much lower than that paid in Ripon, Knaresborough and Boroughbridge. However, it is expected to increase sharply next year as it takes on more services. So could things change in 2026?
Cllr Aldred sounds sceptical.
The BID and Harrogate District Chamber of Commerce are not pushing for one in Harrogate. I understand that when a switch-on event used to take place in Harrogate there wasn’t a significant increase in footfall to justify the retailers staying open the extra hour or two.
Chamber chief executive Martin Mann said it supported the BID and Harrogate Town Council in their decision not to host a switch-on event.
He added: "I know in previous years there has not been an appetite from the retailers to host one as they have not brought a beneficial footfall in previous years."
Cllr Andrew Williams, an Independent on Ripon City Council, said it wasn’t for him to tell Harrogate how to conduct its business, but he felt wider benefits needed to be factored in:
Sometimes spending money to enhance community spirit is worthwhile. To see all the young kids on the square in Ripon last weekend, queueing up to see Santa, seeing the reindeer and waiting to see the lights switched on is what the magic of Christmas is all about. It’s events like that that bring communities together. Places like Boroughbridge, Knaresborough and Ripon have that strong community identity that maybe Harrogate doesn’t.
Father Christmas switches on the Christmas lights in Ripon each year.
Although there was no lights switch-on in Harrogate, the town council is close to reviving another festive tradition. Cllr Aldred explains:
Harrogate Town Council is in active participation with the BID and Harrogate International Festivals to revive the much loved, Mayor’s Christmas Carol Concert, which traditionally Harrogate Borough Council organised in the last week before Christmas.
Plans are near completion, and we hope to make a formal announcement about the date, time and venue and how to get hold of free admission tickets over the next few days.
It seems there will be something for the town to sing about at Christmas this year. But the prospect of a lights switch-on event remains remote.
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