Everything a Town Needs to Celebrate Christmas

19th Aug 2019

Becki Bell

Everything a Town Needs to Celebrate Christmas

Here we are in the height of summer and it is time when towns all over the UK are planning their Christmas Festivities. Such Festivities normally peak demand on products and equipment used to put them on. Months before a town switches on its lights (Ellesmere Port Switch their Christmas Lights on in Mid-November). Before the festivities can proceed - planning is well in advance to ensure that those special moments in the calendar go smoothly.

Christmas festivities are such a joy, a time for family, a time for reflection, sometimes contemplation of how the year has gone. For local authorities, small business and large the festive season may herald the end of the calendar year, but it is also a great time to embrace the new year and the opportunities it presents. So that festive display, those festive lights had better be right!

You do not have to travel far to indulge in quality Christmas Lights. Check out your local high street, garden centre or local shopping centre in your local town. The effort that goes into the planning, preparation and execution of putting up Christmas Decorations is often a thankless task. Your local authority may be the Secret Santa for your town, or your Christmas lights could be the result of a dedicated committee or local business group. The thing is Christmas lights and decoration each year does not happen by itself. Whilst many displays are not Oxford Street in London, or an extension of world-famous Blackpool lights (which normally run from 30th of August to 3rd of November and avoid Christmas). Regardless of the size and complexity of Christmas Displays in your local town it takes planning and careful budgeting.

The huge Cheshire Oaks Christmas Tree is lodged firmly in our minds dominating the skyline of the retailers Christmas Corner. Their Christmas Corner is their take on a Christmas Market. And Christmas Markets such as those held in St George’s Plateau in Liverpool are a complex rolling event. Achieving displays at height takes the right equipment to enable safe set up and take down of Christmas Lights. Obviously the larger an event the more complex the planning can be. If there is a need to create a bespoke landscaped environment for a Christmas Market; then we Forward Builders’ Supplies can consult and supply every aspect in terms of materials.

Not with standing the logistics of building the temporary villages which house the stalls selling German sausages and fuzzy warm drinks.Where power and lighting are paramount stave off health and safety issues with the general public. Welfare (having enough toilets), power and area lighting are all aspects to consider – not to mention security if the area is close to highways or you want to control crowds with fencing? But the simple act of hanging Christmas Decorations in the Street Scene requires safe powered access. Either a Cherry Picker, Boom Lift or some form of Powered Access. Hire organisations such as PAL Hire can provide powered access solutions nationwide on a hire basis (https://www.palhire.co.uk/equipment-hire/access-platform-hire/). This should make the process of hanging those festive decorations on your High Street easy and safe. Likewise, for internal decorations to access height safely there are a range of access options for working at height.

Those hefty Christmas Decorations are not going to stay up there by magic. Organisers of large scale events rely on quality fixings and fasteners in the erection and construction of these temporary Christmas communities. Often overlooked the sort of fixtures and fixing provided by reputable building suppliers can assist. Especially when installing streams of Christmas Lights across streets. What goes up needs to stay up well into the new year or until the time is right for them to be taken down. Regardless of the weather, the types of use companies such as Forward Builders’ Supplies can provide the right fixtures and fittings as well as other building materials.

All these events have cycle but each year there is a little-known spike in the hire of powered access. This could be a van mounted cherry picker, mewp (mobile elevating work platform) or a self-propelled scissor lift. Each used the length and breadth of the UK to help put up Christmas displays and lights. Safety when installing outside lighting is crucial. You will find a lot of local authorities will begin the process of putting Christmas Lights up in the street scene as early as October. Depending on the local authorities’ ability to spare resources the process can be made easier with the right equipment.

When should those decorations come down?

It is thought commonly that a deviation of a day, either too soon, or too late; when bringing down those festive decorations – brings bad luck. Often your local authority or town council has no choice to leave them up longer. If you live in a metropolitan city there may be quite a wait as workers make their way round the decorations to clear them up for a year. It is an interesting fact that until the 19th century decorations used to be left up until Candlemas Day on the 2nd of February. Considering most decorations are up by the 1st of November now – that would men 4 months with Christmas in mind and those sparkly decorations swinging on the High Street. Which could be more than enough for some. In answer to the question about when should those decorations come down? Since Victorian times, the 12th night after Christmas, or January the 5th is the target date for striking those festive decorations and putting them away for ten months.

With 32 years’ supplier experience to the landscaping, building and civil engineering industry. Forward Builders’ Supplier Limited are uniquely positioned to provide materials for landscaping and building projects throughout mainland UK.