John Atkinson (@AtkiTeach) enjoys the Bradford Christmas Lights switch on – a bit different to the usual …
Mythical jesters, trapeze artists, an orchestra flying around 200ft in the air, fireworks lighting up the night sky… just another event at Bradford’s amazing City Park.
I’ve come to love City Park. It’s the heart of our city and is a beacon for all that Bradford can be, drawing in crowds for far and wide to celebrate, share and enjoy our urban environment in ways few other cities are able.
Saturday night, we braved the cold, crisp November weather to see Bradford light up for Christmas. Arriving just as a children’s choir mixed traditional Yuletide fare with modern favourites, there was already a jolly atmosphere. This was heightened by the sublime Bradford Festival Choral Society who regaled us with Christmas greats, getting us all firmly in the festive mood.
Sprites suddenly whooshed passed us, carrying flaming torches and shouting and hollering. They amassed on stages set around City Park and lit up the night. The sprites were replaced with colourful jesters who called out to the crowd, asking us to cheer and shout and sing.
Then, the chandelier at the heart of the park began to rise. A lone bell ringer sat precariously in the middle, cutting a lonely figure against the lights of the Alhambra. The sprites began to climb the structure with all the confidence of a sailor shimmying up rigging. The jesters joined them beneath …
and then it rose …
Slowly it rose, up and up and up until it hung 200ft over our heads. A bell rang. Another echoed it. A drum banged and another returned. And then the music sprang to life. The jesters, playing their instruments high in the night sky, brought the still air to life …
and then they began to spin …
Round and round they went, hurtling through the air. Part orchestra, part circus, they flew. The chandelier slowly opened as it spun, pushing the jesters further out so they looked like musical vultures circling, spinning, serenading over head.
The sprites cast off their cloaks; their fall a reminder of just how high the performers were. And then, one by one, they enthralled us as they twisted and turned and spun and slid on their trapezes, all to the accompaniment of the jesters’ tunes.
Back on terra firma, they received the applause they so richly deserved after entertaining the crowd so skilfully, so expertly, so magically.
The crowd welcomed the Lord Mayor who led us in a countdown t the switch on which was heralded by fireworks shooting out over City Hall and Centenary Square. Bradford was lit up by neon, saltpetre and thousands of happy faces.
Without a C list celeb in site, whoever’s in charge of events planning at City Park deserves a medal. Time after time, I’ve been to City Park, and each time I’ve been surprised, impressed and left with my chest puffed out, pleased as Punch to be a Bradfordian.
