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Nov 2024
Watch video of newly-released Harrogate Christmas song
Christmas hits can come from unlikely sources. Who remembers I Love Sausage Rolls? But could a song about Harrogate make it to the top of the festive charts?
An invited crowd ranging from panto stars to the charter mayor gathered at the Yorkshire Hotel early this morning for the launch of Merry Christmas Harrogate.
Hotelier Simon Cotton, who wrote the lyrics, said Harrogate was the perfect Christmas town and the song celebrates that.
Channel 5 often re-runs it’s two-part series A Great Yorkshire Christmas featuring Harrogate’s shop window contest and the town was “bucking the trend” by extending its Christmas fayre and Christmas lights at a time when other places were cutting theirs, he said.
The launch coincided with today's start of the 17-day fayre and opening night of Harrogate Theatre’s panto. To add to the Christmassy feel, Knaresborough has Bright Friday tonight.
Six-year-old Isabella Burns, who sings on the video. Pic: Gerard Binks
The song launch. Pic: Gerard Binks
Mr Cotton, managing director of the HRH Group, which owns The Yorkshire Hotel, White Hart and their associated bars the Pickled Sprout and Fat Badger, said he hoped the song would make it to number one, although the mock-up gold disc he produced for the occasion seemed a trifle optimistic.
He added:
We have so much to offer at Christmas time that is more than just the great restaurants and hospitality venues around the town and I thought the only thing we were missing was a Christmas song to show the world how Christmassy we are.
Mr Cotton's colleague Joe Pearce wrote the music and a band called The Straymen was formed specially for this song, consisting of local friends Harry Arnison and Harvey Burns and Harvey’s six-year-old daughter Isabella.
The song got a big cheer after it was played, suggesting it was a local hit. But will it cut through to a wider audience?
Watch the video here and use the comment section below to let us know what you think.
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