Christmas Lights
Each Christmas Oxford Street is decorated with festive lights. The Christmas lights began in 1959, five years after the neighbouring Regent Street began the tradition. The lights were abandoned in 1976 and 1977 due to economic recession, returning in 1978 when Oxford Street organised a laser display.
In mid- to late-November a celebrity turns on the lights and they remain lit until 6 January (Twelfth Night). The following celebrities have turned on the lights since 1981:
- 1981 — Pilin Leon (Miss World, Venezuela)
- 1982 — Daley Thompson
- 1983 — Pat Phoenix
- 1984 — Esther Rantzen
- 1985 — Bob Geldof
- 1986 — Leslie Grantham, Anita Dobson
- 1987 — Derek Jameson
- 1988 — Terry Wogan
- 1989 — Gorden Kaye
- 1990 — Cliff Richard
- 1991 — Westminster Children's Hospital
- 1992 — Linford Christie
- 1993 — Richard Branson
- 1994 — Lenny Henry
- 1995 — Coronation Street Cast
- 1996 — Spice Girls
- 1997 — Peter André
- 1998 — Zoë Ball
- 1999 — Ronan Keating
- 2000 — Charlotte Church
- 2001 — S Club 7
- 2002 — Blue
- 2003 — Enrique Iglesias
- 2004 — Emma Watson, Il Divo, Steve Redgrave
- 2005 — Westlife
- 2006 — All Saints
- 2007 — Leona Lewis
- 2008 — Sugababes
- 2009 — Jim Carrey
- 2010 — Children from Kids Company
- 2011 — The Saturdays
- 2012 — Robbie Williams
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Famous quotes containing the words christmas and/or lights:
“Whenever I hear about a child needing something, I ask myself, ‘Is it what he needs or what he wants?’ It isn’t always easy to distinguish between the two. A child has many real needs which can and should be satisfied. His wants are a bottomless pit. He wants, for example, to sleep with his parents. He needs to be in his own bed. At Christmas he wants every toy advertised on television. He needs only one or two.”
—Haim Ginott (20th century)
“Along the highway, all but lost among blatant neon lights flashing ‘Whiskey’ and ‘Dance and Dine,’ are crudely daubed warnings erected by itinerant evangelists, announcing that ‘Jesus is soon coming,’ or exhorting the traveler to ‘prepare to meet thy God.’”
—For the State of Florida, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)