Showers didn’t take the sparkle off Ripon’s Christmas lights switch on, with Santa, reindeer, free fairground rides for children and tribute acts all adding to  yesterday afternoon’s family entertainment organised by Ripon City Council.

With rain relenting, a gathering  of residents and visitors, mostly made up of family groups, poured onto Market Square and by the time the lights were switched on at 5pm, more than 2,000 people were present to welcome in the 2023 festive season.

Illuminating the city centre

The Christmas tree and lit up sleigh decoration on Market Place South

The Merry Christmas decoration on the entry to Kirkgate

Kirkgate lights on the approach to the cathedral

The display on Westgate

Fishergate

North Street

Entertainment for children

The three children’s fairground rides were in full swing all afternoon and into the evening

Santa took Christmas present orders from the children, while his reindeer took a rest

Musical entertainment

These children were full of early Christmas joy as they danced to girl band songs performed by the tribute act Xelle

The tribute act Boyz Beyond had the crowd rocking with classic songs from chart-topping boy bands

The festive season got underway in Harrogate town centre today when the Christmas lights were switched on.

The lights are organised by Harrogate Business Improvement District, which is funded by a levy paid by town centre traders. The levy pays for initiatives that encourage more people to visit the town, such as the lights.

As with recent years, today’s switch-on was a low-key ‘soft’ event rather than a public occasion.

The BID said previously it decided to go down this route based on feedback from members, which suggested they would prefer the organisation to spend its budget in “more impactful ways”.

Below is a selection of images taken today.

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Harrogate’s Christmas lights will be switched on in three weeks’ time — but once again there won’t be an official event marking the occasion.

The event, which traditionally drew a crowd to the town centre to mark the start of the festive season, was halted due to covid.

It has not returned since and Harrogate Business Improvement District confirmed in a social media post the situation has not changed. It said:

“Harrogate BID are excited to announce that the Christmas lights will be switched on from Thursday 16th November in the town centre to kick start the festivities.

“As previous years, there will be a ‘soft’ switch on and no official event.”

The Stray Ferret asked Matthew Chapman, chief executive of the BID, why the big switch-on wasn’t happening this year.

Mr Chapman said:

“Whilst we totally understand and respect how popular the Harrogate Christmas lights switch-on used to be, taking feedback from our members on the return on investment it offered, it was decided to utilise our festive budget in more impactful ways as well as funding events throughout the year such as the Harrogate Celebration of Fashion, Harrogate Music Weekender and recent Britain in Bloom gold award-winning Floral Summer of Celebration.

“As with all projects at Harrogate BID, we are constantly reviewing and will do so again in 2024.”

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The Christmas lights have been switched on in Harrogate, heralding the start of the festive season for local businesses.

The displays are organised by Harrogate BID, which said the run-up to Christmas is a vital time of year for retailers, especially against a challenging economic landscape.

The organisation has used its levy payers’ money to fund 100,000 bulbs across the town centre, including festive figures and motifs.

Unlike in previous years, there was no official switch-on event, but the lights are now illuminated and will be displayed until after Christmas.

The lights on the trees along the Stray – which are traditionally lit throughout winter rather than for Christmas – were turned on at the end of October.

Meanwhile, a series of festive attractions will be brought into the town centre during the Christmas period. Today saw the arrival of the first signs of the ice rink, which will open to customers on Friday, December 2.

Read more:

• First signs of Christmas attractions appear in Harrogate
• Reindeer head to Ripon for Saturday’s Christmas lights switch on