Festive Lights, Camera, Action

Harrogate’s heading for the small screen this Christmas

- Jo Haywood

THE small group of volunteers who ensure Harrogate is at its twinkly best every Christmas are not generally the sort of people who hog the limelight. They have bustled about in the background for the last 10 years, like a North Yorkshire battalion of Santa’s Little Helpers, raising money (and spirits) as part of the unassuming yet highly effective Harrogate at Christmas team.

This year, however, these invaluable supporting players are stepping into the full beam of the spotlight as they – and their town – prepare for small screen stardom after bagging the lead role in Channel 5’s two-part festive documentary Countdown to Christmas.

The programmes, due to air in December, are the brainchild of Daisybeck Studios, the Leeds-based company behind the successful Yorkshire Vet series. They’ve already spent time in the town filming the volunteers’ annual festive fundraising day and, as we go to print, are preparing to capture Harrogate’s Big Switch On! and the Christmas shop window competition.

But before we shine a light on this year’s festive adventure, let’s look back a few years to when things were a lot less twinkly.

In 2002, The Sun christened Harrogate ‘Scrooge town’ for its paucity of Christmas lights – not a title it particularly wanted on its CV as it tried to attract festive visitors away from big-hitters like Leeds (the retail capital of Yorkshire) and York (the self-proclaimed ‘Christmas City’).