With The Just Price Of Flowers completed thoughts now begin to turn to Christmas and whilst reading The Metro newspaper on the bus this morning, I was reminded that although we have yet to stage a pantomime, we do have a number of festive wares in our back catalogue.
There was an article in said paper this morning about a cul de sac of six houses in Burnham On Sea, Somerset which together sport 90,000 fairy lights and raise a significant amount for charity. In 2004 in collaboration with The Public in West Bromwich we created a website called Hohoho to celebrate such domestic festive illuminations. The website contained images and reviews of decorated homes throughout Birmingham, Sandwell and The Black Country.
It also featured a number of walking and driving tours to help people find the best displays in a particular area, together with background stories and photographic tips. The site was updated by The Public in 2005 and though now dormant, it can still be viewed HERE. Although clearly alive and bright in Burnham On Sea there don’t seem to have been as many extravagant displays in my neck of the woods over the last couple of years: a combination of the credit crunch, rising energy prices and climate change concern perhaps.
The Metro also had pictures of a number of Santa Claus fun runs which are seemingly growing in popularity around the world. Large gatherings of Santa Clauses are statistics we like to occasionally include in Of All The People In All The World. The
annual Liverpool Santa Dash which happened yesterday, claims to have the largest gathering of Santas in the U.K with a TBC figure of 7,000.
Click on the box on the right to read more about the first Stan’s Cafe touring show, itself a festive treat.
Craig