TV presenter switches on festive party

9:00am Friday 17th November 2006

If there's one thing Brighton knows how to do, it's party.

Last night's official ceremony to switch on the Christmas lights - complete with with reindeers, fairies, elves, live music, free mulled wine and mince pies - was no exception.

Thousands of people crowded into Queen's Street, North Street, West Street, and Western Road to welcome home Brighton-born television presenter Holly Willoughby as she pushed the plunger and wished everyone a very happy Christmas.

As the crowd cheered a curtain of lights draped from the Clock Tower in the centre of the four streets lit up.

The parade was led by fairies on stilts dressed in white; real reindeers dragging Santa's sleigh with the Snow Queen inside; and The Argus' very own elves, collecting l e t - ters for Santa, with music from samba troupe Carnival Collective.

With just six weeks to go until Christmas the big man himself was too busy checking The List to make a personal appearance but Southern FM's larger than life character Jack the Lad got the party started with a little bit of trivia.

He said this year's switch on of the festive lights was the first official one in 25 years, and in 2004 the city's seasonal display was declared the worst in the country.

Sue Ogle, 51, of Moyne Close, Hove, brought her 17-month-old grandson George to enjoy his first Christmas display.

She said: "We thought it would be nice for him to see the reindeers. The lights are a lot better than last year but they should have diverted the traffic and closed the roads. And I thought it would have been better in December but Christmas starts earlier every year."

George's mum Stacey Witterick, 27, of Moyne Close, Hove, said: " T h e y could have made it a bit more Christmassy." In the North Laine, traditional carol singers competed against the drums. The smell of mulled wine filled the streets and everyone was keen to get their hands on the free mince pies.

A group of Brighton University students were enjoying some early Christmas celebrations in Santa hats and flashing Christmas earrings and said the atmosphere was unbeatable.

Yucca Aurovillian, 20, from Switzerland, said: "I prefer it here. In Switzerland it is only for the children but we were shouting the loudest when the lights went on."

Alannah Hayes, 18, from Surrey, said: "We wrote letters to Santa and gave them to one of the elves. She gave us lollipops."

As the parade made its way through Brighton Place the best lights were found outside Donatello's Pizzeria, where a giant Santa stood beside a dazzling polar bear.

At the end of the parade, in East Street, the reindeers were put in a pen so children could get photographs and feed them.

Harmony Dawes, four, of Lewes Road, Brighton, said: "I fed the reindeers some fluff and gave my letter for Father Christmas to the Present Fairy."

Maisey Bailey, seven, also of Lewes Road, Brighton said: "The fairies were great and I really liked the music and the lights looked really pretty. It's really Christmassy."

The display is funded by traders in the Brighton Business Improvement District, made up of North Street, North Laine and the Lanes, and many were open for Christmas late-night shopping.

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