Sheffield Council spends £138,000 on Christmas lights despite major switch-on being cancelled

This is an increase from £126,031 in 2023 and £116,375 in 2022.

The traditional town hall Christmas light switch-on has been cancelled for the second year running with the council citing safety concerns about the large number of people gathering in the city centre.

Last year the council cancelled the light switch-on due to construction work on Fargate.

This year the light switch-on is being replaced by a festive weekend event called Crackers for Christmas. This will take place across Saturday November 16 and Sunday 17 and will cost the council £14k. It will offer free musical performances, dance acts, panto, street entertainment, crafts and storytelling for children. The Christmas market will also open on November 16.

In April 2021 Sheffield City Council successfully bid for £15.8m from the government's Future High Streets Fund to renovate Fargate, High Street and Castle Square. Work on Fargate was due to be completed in November 2024 however this has been delayed until February 2025.

In November 2023, The Star reported that the cost of the project had more than doubled to £33.6million which a council spokesperson said was due to inflation.

The programme, called Heart of the City II, involves building seating areas and lighting on Fargate and High Street’s outdoor areas as well as landscaping and green planting.

The plans include building a six-storey community hub with a 200-capacity live music venue in the basement, exhibition space, a café/juice bar and two floors for co-working.

Sheffield City Council is also working with private landowners to bring new uses for vacant or underused floorspace. The project will improve shop fronts and see the introduction of public art interventions targeted at Chapel Walk.

Laura Barker is the manager of Bird’s Yard, an independent gift shop on Chapel Walk off Fargate in Sheffield.

She said: “In previous years the switch-on has been a busy day in the shop. It’s a nice start to the festive season so it will be a shame that it’s not happening.

“The weekend of activities in November will drive business. Whenever there have been events like this in the past we have seen more people coming in as they go shopping after. The Christmas market also gets more people through the door.

“Fargate being in the state that it is has had an impact on business. Things have been a bit slow and people will come in saying they didn’t know if the street was open to come down. I think people are avoiding the entrance to Chapel Walk because they think it’s closed.”

Elaine Medlam is store manager of Age UK on Norfolk Row in Sheffield city centre.

She said: “The Christmas lights switch-on used to bring people to the shops on Fargate but the ongoing building work means the Moor is getting all the focus and attention.

“The Christmas stalls and Ferris wheel were on the Moor last year which meant people didn’t venture up to Fargate. We will miss out on customers and footfall because of the big light switch-on being cancelled.”

Sheffield Liberal Democrats Leader Shaffaq Mohammed said: “I am bitterly disappointed that the Christmas lights switch-on has been cancelled.

“The light switch-on usually generates a huge footfall in the city and economic benefits. I can understand why it was cancelled last year because the construction works were ongoing. But the fact the works on Fargate are still happening is simply not on. Many people in Sheffield are starting to call the street farse-gate because these building works seem to be carrying on forever.

“As a child I used to come into Sheffield to look at the Christmas lights with my uncle. Sheffield were renowned for their lights and weren’t far behind Blackpool. If we want to attract people into the city centre then we need to have events. We should not be cancelling events like the Christmas lights switch-on.”

Councillor Martin Smith, Chair of the Economic Development and Skills Committee at Sheffield City Council, said: “Christmas is set to be bigger and better than ever. This year, Sheffield will be hosting a full weekend of Christmas activities and performances in place of a Christmas light switch-on event.

“The decision not to hold a traditional, large-scale switch-on event wasn’t made easily, but the safety of residents and visitors will always be our priority and having entertainment spread across the whole weekend is the best option to ensure this.

“We hope to see Sheffield residents, and visitors to the city, head down over the course of the weekend to enjoy what we know will be great fun and entertainment for everyone.”