#AmazingAccrington Christmas switch-on adds £150,000 to local economy

Over 12,000 attended the extremely popular #AmazingAccrington Christmas Light Switch On, featuring actor, singer and TikTok star Junior Andre and Emmerdale’s “Paddy”.

Taking place on Thursday 23rd November, the event also saw performances from students at Burnley College, a Michael Jackson Tribute Act and the world famous Accrington Pipe Band, as well as singing from Sophie Stott, the Sing Space Musical Theatre Choir and the Hyndburn primary school collective school choir led by St Christophers Sixth Form– plus much more, while there was also a spectacular Christmas Market inside and outside Accrington Market Hall, with a funfair on Broadway.

Research conducted on the night with visitors showed the night to be a great success. Comments were overwhelmingly positive, with the event being praised for being a very popular and busy event for Accrington.  Comments included:

“Amazing… really good vibe!"

"Brilliant event, wish there were more events like this. The town is buzzing!"

"Even better than last year, the big screen is fab!"

"Fantastic, great atmosphere, proud to be part of it!"

"Brilliant. The town had come alive!”

The research showed that 98 per cent of visitors surveyed had come along as a family, with the others being individuals or groups of friends. 66 per cent of visitors surveyed were under the age of 35.

100 per cent of visitors came into Accrington specially to visit the event, so it was definitely a draw and a boost to the town centre economy. The collective school choir had been promoted in local schools, to encourage families to come into town and watch the incredible performance.

The average spend per respondent was £12.77 per head. With an estimated 12,000 visitors, this represents over £153,240 back into the economy, which included local businesses and market traders.

Cllr Marlene Haworth, leader of Hyndburn Borough Council, commented: “The Christmas Light Switch On was simply amazing. The town was absolutely packed and it was an honour  to sponsor and a privilege to witness such an incredible event. With 12,000 visitors and the spend figures mentioned, we can estimate that just this one event has put over £150,000 back into the economy, which is fantastic news.

Murray Dawson, chair of #AmazingAccrington, said: “We wanted to go even bigger and better for this year’s Christmas Light Switch On and we delivered. We introduced a big screen on the main stage and we had so many incredible acts on the main stage, which went down extremely well with our visitors… everyone was talking about it!”

Sameena King, market manager at Accrington Market, said: “We can’t believe how many people we had in the town, inside the market and all on the outside stalls, they were all crazy busy. #AmazingAccrington have done it again!”

Victoria Tindall, business and marketing coordinator at Hyndburn Borough Council, commented: “Well done to the #AmazingAccrington team for another amazing event. Christmas really has started in style here in Accrington! The event also went viral on social media with over one million impressions and over 250k engagements.”

The 2023 Accrington Christmas Light Switch On was sponsored by Hyndburn Borough Council, North Lancs Training Group, Sundown Solutions, Prosperity Children’s Services and Financial Affairs.

To see a gallery of pictures of the Accrington Christmas Light Switch On, please visit: www.amazingaccrington.co.uk