A LOUD clap of thunder and one of the biggest downpours of the year signalled the arrival of Father Christmas in Town on Saturday. Hundreds of diehards braved the elements to see Santa emerge from a fire engine near the inter-island quay.
The rain had abated by the time he turned the Town Christmas lights on from Church Square some 45 minutes later, but by then most people were soaked.
‘There’s nothing we can do about the weather and it was so nice to see so many people, wet and cold, holding their letters out for me,’ said Father Christmas.
‘I’ll be taking the letters home afterwards to dry them out in front of a big log fire.’
Rhys Ogier, 6, helped Santa with the countdown to the big switch-on.
‘I was so proud and very excited for him,’ said his mother, Tara Robert, an accounts analyst.
The event took on a new format this year with the time for the big switch-on put back from 5 to 6pm. Father Christmas and his helpers, including Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Mary Poppins and Alice in Wonderland, paraded along the seafront from the White Rock to Church Square.
Tim Rawles, vice-president of organiser the Young Business Group, said he was pleased with the way things had come together.
‘The timings went as planned and the weather played a part as everyone got wet, particularly those at the White Rock,’ he said.
‘I’m just glad that everybody stayed around. When Father Christmas arrived, people just seemed to come out of the woodwork and everyone brightened up.’
He said it was too early to say if the same format would be kept for next year.
‘It all depends on the feedback we get and that’s the reason why we changed it this year,’ he said.
‘In Church Square you had only people who wanted to be there and they weren’t impeded by shoppers and it would have been vice-versa an hour earlier.’
Martine Ellis, chairwoman of Festive Decor, which provides the Town lights, said that while numbers might have been a little down on previous years, it had still been a great occasion.
‘The rain was a disappointment but there were still hundreds of children holding out their letters for Father Christmas,’ she said.
‘When the lights went on I thought it all looked stunning.’
Festive Decor raised the £60,000 needed with help from a £30,000 donation from Generali.
Generali Worldwide chief executive officer Gavin Tradelius said his company had been happy to assist in making it all happen.
‘Despite the inclement weather it was a brilliant occasion and the faces of the children said it all,’ he said.
* The Fire and Rescue Service’s turntable ladder that had taken Father Christmas to the White Rock was used to block off the bottom of St Julian’s Avenue on its return after a pedestrian was knocked over by a car on the crossing.
The incident happened at about 5.10pm.
The pedestrian, a 29-year-old woman, was taken to hospital complaining of back and pelvic pain.
The road was closed to upward traffic while the incident was dealt with.
Police are appealing for witnesses.
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