Should Sheffield have a Christmas lights switch on this year?
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00:00 So I don't remember the switch on really very much,
00:03 except that it was an exciting thing to do
00:05 with the whole of my family.
00:07 But these days I don't,
00:10 and I realised that COVID sort of scuppers most things
00:12 and the idea of just being in a big crowd
00:15 when it's cold and dark,
00:16 I don't find it exciting anymore.
00:18 I also think that in some ways, I know they try,
00:22 but the lights when I was little
00:24 seemed an awful lot better,
00:25 but maybe it's 'cause I was little.
00:27 So it's not gonna bother me either way.
00:29 - But do you think with other cities presumably doing it,
00:32 Sheffield should be, is in competition for custom?
00:34 - I don't think they're gonna get much custom
00:37 by switching on the lights, to be honest.
00:39 I think a market is a much better plan.
00:41 You know, I've got friends who are going to Manchester
00:44 for the Manchester market
00:45 and people are going to York for the York Christmas market.
00:48 And I know we run things in the Peace Gardens,
00:50 but whether it's big enough
00:52 or bright enough or attractive enough,
00:55 I mean, I'm deeply depressed
00:57 by how Sheffield has suffered over the years
01:00 and has not had the infrastructure money
01:02 that other cities have got.
01:04 But I don't know that switching on the lights
01:06 is gonna make any difference.
01:08 - It is a bit disappointing.
01:09 It's perhaps a sign of the times at the moment.
01:14 But yes, people will be more likely to come
01:17 if there are more things I think that happen.
01:19 - I think-- - But I like Sheffield.
01:21 - Yeah, I do.
01:22 I think it's a shame that there isn't a light switch on.
01:25 You know, yes, there's building works,
01:27 but there was last year and they had it.
01:29 And they need to encourage people into the city centre
01:33 and that seems a disincentive or to go somewhere else.
01:36 So I think it's a real shame.
01:38 - A missed opportunity, do you think?
01:40 - Yeah, definitely.
01:41 - Yeah.