Carnival of Lights

Story: Lisa Harrison

Over 100 people, mostly children, braved the bitter cold to attend the Carnival of Lights, organised by Green City Action, on Saturday 1st December 2007 at Ellesmere Green.

A variety of light-themed activities were on offer, free of charge. Entertainment was provided by Ellesmere Youth Project and Chris Turner, who was DJing some fine summery Cuban music to take everyone’s minds off the icy gales that permeated through the marquees. Many of his CDs are imported from Cuba, and aren’t available for purchase anywhere other than the Caribbean island.

Children’s ultraviolet face-painting proved especially popular, with massive queues stretching out of the marquee right up until the event ended. The queue only subsided when the gale-force winds almost tore the marquee from the ground, anchored by several event stewards to prevent it blowing away.

The evening’s entertainment was arranged to mark the switch-on of the festive lights around the Ellesmere Green area, stretching across the trees of the green itself to the surgery and library across the road. The lights were put up to mark all the major religious festivals being celebrated in the community at this time of year, from Eid to Hanukkah, Divali and Christmas.

The switch-on itself was given over to Cllr Jackie Drayton, who invited the attending children to join her in counting down before the immediate vicinity was illuminated. Jackie told the Messenger:

“It’s been an excellent evening. It’s great to see so many people here enjoying themselves. I hope for a peaceful coming year when we can all work together for the good of our community.”

A particularly popular form of entertainment at the carnival was provided by Shaun Tummings, a graffiti artist, who allowed children to create a mural comprised of their own names with his careful guidance and supervision, after creating a mural reading ‘Green City Action’ in ultraviolet paint.

Bob Worm, events co-ordinator for Green City Action and the man responsible for the carnival, said:

“The set-up’s great, but I would like to see some more people coming up here. The event was planned using funding from BNDfC and the Burngreave Area Panel. We promoted the evening with 8000 flyers handed out at local schools and at the recent Bonfire Night festivities.

“This is our chance to say a big thank you to the Burngreave area, and to create a positive atmosphere for the whole community.

“I’d especially like to thank South Yorkshire Homes and the New Deal wardens for volunteering their services to help make this evening a success.”

We have plenty of photos available of the evening's festivities. Check our Carnival Of Lights photo album to see them.