Santa sets date with seaside town for festive lights switch-on

Santa will be heading back to Tenby again this year, for the seaside town’s festive lights switch on...with a little help from the RNLI crew.

The date has been confirmed for Saturday, November 26, for the occasion, which always proves to be one of the most popular fixtures on the calendar for Tenby, with Father Christmas arriving in Tudor Square at 5 pm with the Mayor and her party, and the lifeboat launching at 4.30 pm to collect him.

The town council’s Christmas festivities working party met recently to discuss the arrangements for the day, with the the town clerk commenting that last year’s switch on event had seen one of the biggest attendances ever in the town for Santa’s arrival!

However, he said that the event had not passed without incident, as there had been a major issue with the fact that the firm employed to affect the road closure for the town centre, had been unable to do so, due to traffic light failure on Crackwell Street, meaning that vehicles were not kept out of Tudor Square throughout the day.

There had also been issues with the fire brigade joining in with last year’s event, as the Tenby crew had been called out on a shout just as the main parade was due to start.

It was felt by the committee that they should stick to the same format again this year, with a road closure in place from 11 am to 6 pm, to allow for entertainment activities in the square in the lead up to the lights switch on.

Phil John coxwan at the lifeboat station told the committee that he felt the ‘walking parade’ last year had been a ‘great success’ and enabled Father Christmas to interact with children better, whilst also reducing the congestion caused by parade vehicles in the centre of the Tenby.

It also solved the problem of the RNLI sadly being unable to use the inshore lifeboat to transport Santa through the town.

It was also suggested that children could possibly join in this year with a lantern parade, and a lantern making workshop at the De Valence Pavilion before hand. The venue would also host a Santa’s Grotto after the parade.

As well as live entertainment in the square again, it was also proposed to look into the possibility of providing children’s rides in the town for the day.

It was felt that the main Christmas tree outside St Mary’s Church had again been a disappointment last year.

The town clerk explained that the difficulty had been that the tree was ordered from a plantation to the east of Carmarthen and they did not know what it would look like until it arrived. Another supplier would be looked into.

Further discussions about the arrangements for the day will take place when the committee next meets.