Friday was 40 mph winds with patches of heavy rain, we had a small break in the weather for Saturday, although rain was forecast after 7pm and the winds would increase to 40 mph that night too. We had an event window, we will snap that one up as always battling with the elements every event!
With the weather potentially changing mid way through the event we re positioned it beside SoSweet, thank you to Alan and Kathy of Westward Living for use of the land. Here you get a lot of shelter from Latitude 51 and there is a big square for people. This position allowed the wind to increase without fear of the gazebos moving and becoming dangerous, it also meant the PA system was sheltered as was the people!
We kicked off with Westward Ho! Youth Theater, they made their debut at the village events and took to the stage for 25 minutes. A great selection of songs, a mix of Christmas and show songs with some great dances. The crowd loved them and they loved performing. We hadn't expected quite so many people at this event or we would of set out the event area differently, our lesson for next year!
Want to find out more about Westward Ho! Youth Theater?-
https://www.facebook.com/WestwardHoYouthTheatre/give their page a like and keep up to date with what they are up too.
One memory from this event for us was watching the Westward Ho! Youth Theater leaders, like proud parents conducting from the front. They hadn't had a lot of time to get ready for this event, but still nailed it. The claps from the audience were quiet at the beginning of the set to a loud roar at the end. Brilliant to see the crowd warming to them followed by loving them. A wonderful asset to Westward Ho! and great to see young ones with confidence and stage courage.
The lights count down was from Cllr John Himan the Mayor of Northam and Charlotte Pirrone the winner of Westward Ho!'s Got Talent 2019. Together they counted down and the lights went on with Peter and Elf Kate on stage too. Santa arrived and the Christmas spirit was installed into the village good and proper!
Elf Kate then led a Christmas Conga around the village while we set up the stage for Charlotte. We ended the light switch on with Charlotte Pirrone singing a mix of Christmas and powerful songs.
Need a crazy elf, energy filled kids party? Kate is our go to every time as she is superb. Kate owns and runs this business-
https://www.facebook.com/magicalguestsnorthdevon/ No shortage of energy and spirit!
It was easy to see why Charlotte won WH'sGT and won two judge votes too. She is good, she is very good. A true professional too as she was stage invaded by our crazy elf or even shared a few songs with her! Some performers haven't got the confidence for this, Charlotte embraced it and closed the night brilliantly.
That was the 2019 Westward Ho! Christmas Lights switch on brought to you from the Westward Ho! Business Association, it's our way as businesses to thank the community for supporting us. After all without this great community we wouldn't have such great businesses.
