“Let’s start Christmas with a bang,” may have been an unfortunate use of words by the event compère at Midsomer Norton’s Christmas Light Switch-on last Friday evening. Only hours earlier, the event had nearly been cancelled due to a discovered gas leak opposite the Hollies Gardens. Once declared safe, organisers and the community rallied round to make sure the event could go ahead, albeit with some minor adjustments.
All in all, the event was a great success, with a large crowd enjoying carols, mince pies and the craft stalls along the lower High Street. Father Christmas visited and the Christmas story was told through giant pass-the-parcels. The Sing-Along created by The Midsomer Norton Churches Together included two fantastic local school choirs who sang with great enthusiasm at what proved to be a truly traditional Christmas event. All was calm.
Yet behind the scenes organisers faced every event team’s nightmare when a major gas leak was discovered opposite the Hollies Gardens in the late afternoon. The leak was found when a lamp post base was opened in readiness to switch the lights on. It was immediately reported to Wales & West Utilities by the organisers and after an initial inspection, a section of the already closed road was cleared of craft stalls and cordoned off. As the evening progressed, event organisers, the Somer Valley Chamber of Commerce in conjunction with the Community Trust and Churches Together, decided it was safest to bring the event to an early close in the interests of public safety – following the switching on of just the lights on the Christmas Tree in the Hollies Gardens.
“As Town Mayor, I was truly proud of the way the situation was handled by our community on Friday evening and would like to thank all concerned,” said Paul Myers. “Throughout the evening, the organisers, many of them volunteers, worked in full co-operation with gas engineers. The organisers put public safety first, taking the difficult decision to end the event early despite months of planning and preparation. Everyone attending, from stallholders who had to move, to the general public who experienced a shorter event, showed good humour and understanding in the circumstances.”