LUKE MARSDEN: Pining for some proper Christmas festivities

I got the mulled wine on, barked at Alexa to play Fairytale of New York (the proper version not this new PC edited one!) and decorated my tree.

As I barked another order to Alexa to officially switch on my Xmas lights I paused and thought about all the fantastic Wigan Christmas Light Switch-Ons I’ve hosted and attended over the years.

There have been many travesties of 2020 due to the pandemic (fab news about the vaccines!) but one of them has been our town’s Christmas lights had to be switched on virtually. No fake snow, no freezing cold queueing, no questionable tribute artists and not even Hacker T Dog!

I had the pleasure of hosting it seven consecutive times (I think that is a Guinness World Record?) and every time was a complete extravaganza that brought thousands out to our town centre and really marked the beginning of the festive season.

Yes, our lights probably do need a bit of a facelift but we’re fortunate enough that we still have an official switch on, many towns across the country don’t even have any xmas lights.

As I looked at my own Christmas lights this week as All I Want For Christmas played, I contemplated purchasing a fake snow machine and filming an official countdown, I may have retired from my Light Switch-On days but as hope that an end in sight to this nightmare year gets stronger I think we can all do with turning on lights, pouring some mulled wine and celebrating that the festive season has arrived to hopefully cheer us up from a year that would make even Ebenezer Scrooge’s eyes water.

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