It is looking at lot more likely Rye will have Christmas lights this year after further discussions this week ahead of a crunch meeting at the town hall this Monday.
The news about the lights comes as a Christmas Window Display Competition has been launched to help guarantee a festive feel to the town centre for locals and visitors alike.
Plans to install the strings of LED lights that have hung in the town each Christmas for almost a decade have been in doubt for the past month. The issue was brought to a head by changes at the charity that used to run the Christmas in Rye Festival.
“I’m much more positive,” said Fran Huxley who is part of a small working group making calls, getting quotes, and conducting site visits to find a solution. “We’re almost there and the support in the town has been amazing. People want to make it work but until this week it did seem there was a new barrier every day.”
She says volunteers have been coming forward as have pledges of money. “We’re not there yet and we still need to fundraise a lot of money, but I’m confident. We have to make it work. Imagine coming out of a carol service in St Mary’s in December and seeing the High Street without the lights. It would be so gloomy and depressing.”
The email to find out how to pledge money is ryechristmaslights@gmail.com.
The Christmas lights will be discussed at a meeting of Rye Town Council on Monday November 3 at 6.30pm. The decorations are the only item on the agenda and Ryers are being encouraged to attend to show their support.
The window display competition is being launched by Rye Chamber of Commerce, in partnership with Rye News and Rye Town Council.
“We want to create something festive, fun and easy that really brings the town together,” said Jane Brook, chair of Rye and District Chamber of Commerce. “Businesses can showcase their creativity, the mayor and a panel will pick a winner and the public get to choose their winner. I hope everyone gets involved.”
Judging will take place in the last week of November, with the winner announced on November 28 as part of the Christmas Tree Festival in St Mary’s Church.
Rye Mayor Andy Stuart said he was looking forward to seeing the displays. “I hugely welcome this brilliant initiative by the Chamber of Commerce, in collaboration with Rye News, to get Rye’s hard-working and talented shopkeepers to brighten up the streets with Christmas window displays.”
He said he was honoured to chair the judges’ panel. “It will be a very difficult challenge to select a winner, except the People’s Choice which will be the result of a public poll. I can’t wait to see what Rye’s creative shopkeepers come up with!”
Details about the competition are being delivered to local businesses and shops this weekend. More information about the public vote will be published soon in Rye News.
There’s also still time to get involved with the Christmas Tree Festival.
It’s a chance build on last year’s very successful first event in St Mary’s says Vivienne Pattison, one of the organisers. “Last year was a huge hit. We had 28 trees of all shapes and sizes and hundreds of visitors came to check them out. This year, we are thinking even bigger. With so much space in St Mary’s, we’re hoping to see at least 50 trees sparkling away.”
More details here.
Image Credits: Nick Forman .
I asked a couple of weeks ago via The Rye News, how do we make a donation towards the Christmas lights. I still can’t find out how or who to contact.
I’m sure most people in Rye want the lights to happen & it would be really useful if someone could share how we can help with financial support – thank you.
Thank you so much for your offer of financial support Gilly! Currently we are only collecting pledges for donations until we can confirm we have reached the fundraising target so if you could please email ryechristmaslights@gmail.com with the amount you would like to pledge and then we will be in touch later to arrange your donation. Thank you so much!