Over 2,000 people gathered by Lincoln’s war memorial on the High Street to watch the city’s Christmas lights be turned on, on Thursday, November 19th.
Crowds were entertained by the Salvation Army band, the Lincoln Waits band, carols sang by the Ermine Primary School choir and Mount Street School choir, and a visit from Pudsey bear, in time for Children in Need on Friday.
The thousands-strong crowd did cause some squashing towards the back, leading to confusion between police and stewards as to how to deal with it, and many people poured into Clinton Cards to avoid the crush.
The crowd were delighted when the lively double-act Cannon and Ball emerged to officially switch on the lights, which were bought by City of Lincoln Council for £70,000.
Tansy Coaten, a third-year English student studying at the University of Lincoln, had spent two hours watching and said: “It was well worth the wait.”
After the lights were turned on, spectators saw military cadets marching towards the Stonebow, and those that followed were greeted with a medieval folk band.
However, the night didn’t go without a hitch, as certain lights toward the top of the High Street were not working, but thankfully by Friday they had been fixed.