Watford town centre brought back the spectacular new look over the festive season with the superb LED Twinkly lights provided by Lite and funded by Watford BID, with a contribution from Watford Council. This year we opted to go with the Wintery feel of blue/white/silver colour schemes and patterns adorning our high street.
We hosted our switch-on event on 19th November 2022 headlined by The Voice UK singer Clare Cordell. There was a huge crowd estimated of over 5,000 people on The Parade to enjoy the wonderful entertainment on stage, which also included Electric Umbrella, Watford Palace’s pantomime characters and Watford Rock Choir, with Watford Vibe presenter Miles Blumsom as MC.
Clare Cordell switched on the lights at 5:20PM with an accompanying firework display, fired off the roof of Atria Watford. A special thanks goes to them for being so accommodating and allowing the spectacular display to take place.
We were thrilled when we reviewed the data to find out that footfall in our town centre was up 78% compared to the switch-on event day in 2021. This was reflected with extremely busy restaurants, cafes, pubs and bars – and we are delighted that the event would have resulted in more/new customers for our town centre businesses.
Christmas Lights Switch-On survey feedback (182 participants):
| Average participant rating out of 10: | 2019 | 2021 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Atmosphere | 8.0 | 7.9 | 8.4 |
| Entertainment | 7.4 | 8.1 | 8.2 |
| Organisation | 7.2 | 7.9 | 8.4 |
| Christmas Lights | 8.8 | 7.7 | 8.0 |