We were freezing our noses off in Huddersfield last night,watching the annual Christmas Sound & Light Festival. After negotiating the crowds of parents not giving a toss about anybody but 'their little darlings' - you know the types, bunches of them lifting their kids onto their shoulders in front of everybody instead of doing it behind everybody (doh! I'd like to think it's because they were thick, but in reality it's because they are thoroughly modern British people who couldn't give a f*#k - sad really) - the parade of light started and all was good.
After the glorious 'lion building' (sorry,I don't know what it was built as.. but will find out for a later blog with better daylight pictures as it is one of the not so hidden gems of the town in my opinion) was lit up with a violin player in the central window the parade moved into one of the north's greatest town squares, in front of the railway station.
The parade gave way to a French son et lumiere display which was pretty good, a strangely haunting operatic female singer with strings suspended 100+ feet above the square and being swung round above the crowd - in a slightly reassuring twist of fate those kids on shoulders would have been first to die if anything bad had happened - and an accompanying rock band.
Fireworks set off from behind the railway station finished the night well. All went home happy.
My local village light switch on follows hot on the heels of this event tonight. One thing is guaranteed - well two actually!
It'll be less dramatic as the village self-funds the lights and festivities through a volunteer operated village charity shop where all the money goes back into village events - a sort of local interest co-operative charity shop (everywhere should have one!)...
...plus, there will be fewer of those idiots creating what we have now termed 'walls of brats' in front of everyone.
