Lighting up Langholm

THE day had everything: a crisp, sunny afternoon; Santa and his reindeer; music, food; stalls; entertainers; and, the icing on the cake, – the lights switch-on ceremony.
Langholm Christmas lights event last Saturday was hailed a great success by organisers and townsfolk alike.
Visitors came from all over the area after an exciting build-up.
There were such a lot of things to see and do for people of all ages and there were big smiles on everyone’s faces.
The parade from the Buccleuch Centre to the Market Place kicked off the festivities and Langholm Pipe Band led the way.
Santa, Mrs Claus and the two winners of the drawing competition, Charli-Jane Wilson and Natasha Elliot, were in the sleigh waving happily along the way.
People followed on behind until Santa and Mrs Claus stepped down from their sleigh and made their way to the grotto to hand out presents to the children.
Reindeer
A great favourite of both young and old on the day were the reindeer which were stabled in the Buck yard.
Both adult and young reindeer delighted everyone. They are really beautiful creatures and these ones had come all the way from the Cairngorms.
Also in the Buck yard the Langholm young riders’ club members handed out refreshments of mulled and ginger wine, roasted chestnuts and other tasty snacks.
In the High Street there were stalls in the Xcel office, the old post office and the Welcome to Langholm shop.
An exhibition of Dwayne Bell’s superb drawings was open in The Look Out with other stalls outside it.
In the Wee Workshop young people could get a copy of the Elf on the shelf hunt sheet and find the elves in the shops and take a note of their names.
In the Market Place were a merry-go-round and balloon seller and in the health centre car park were more stalls, including Jeffrey & Scott’s scarves and Raw Edge wood carvings.
Also in the car park was a marquee with chilli club stalls, Double Trouble gin bar and Kirkup butchers as well as beautiful floral wreaths from Border Flowers to name a few.
The chilli club now has car stickers and T-shirts available with various logos saying ‘I love Langholm, Chilli Capital of Scotland’.
There was lots of food on hand and, although many people were slightly overcome by fumes from the cooked chilli, Jilly McCord, a MasterChef finalist, did a marvellous job of cooking up a storm.
Those interested in wildlife could visit the Wild Eskdale stand and the Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrels stand in the Xcel office.
300
Santa gave out more than 300 presents to children who visited the grotto before helping with the lights switch-on.
Langholm Sings kicked off the carol singing by the Christmas tree, accompanied by Langholm Town Band, just as it was getting dark.
Daffy Dill kept everyone entertained by creating huge bubbles as well as bubbles filled with smoke to everyone’s astonishment.
There was quite a crowd assembled in front of Langholm’s enormous Christmas tree for the switch-on and Zoe Irving, Special Olympics gold medal winner, and Jilly did the honours.
Betty Harkness said: “It was a super day and the turnout was fantastic. I’d like to thank
everyone who helped in any way with the event.”
Simmer Fair
One comment overheard at the switch-on was: “It’s just like Simmer Fair night but it’s dark.” So that really is saying something.
Well done to everyone
involved in creating what was a super afternoon which brought together the community in
seasonal goodwill.