It all started with a call to arms in the Guernsey Evening Press. In its edition of the 13th December 1963 the Editor, Mr F.S. Roussel, commented on how attractive St. Peter Port was looking in the run up to Christmas, but went on to say that "our beautiful island could be rendered far more lovely were its narrow streets decorated in the manner adopted elsewhere... High Street, the Pollet, Smith Street and Commercial Arcade at least could be beautified by the tasteful introduction of coloured lights which, festooned across the streets, would lend a warm and welcome touch to St. Peter Port".
Obviously it was too late for anything to be done in time for Christmas 1963, but two young businessmen, Keith Tostevin of Fountain Electrics and Dave Fletcher of the Spot for Sports (which later became Fletchersports) responded to Mr. Roussel’s call. They wrote to St. Peter Port traders asking for donations to fund the lights. Most of the support came from Fountain Street and the Arcade, so those where the areas where the first lights were errected. They where switched on on 4th December 1964 in the presence of Father Christmas, who arrived in a horse drawn trap driven by Mr. Freddie Best. The Evening Press reported the next day that “Hundreds of people made Fountain Street their objective last night, firstly to witness the switching on of the Christmas illuminations, and then to see the old gentleman himself…”
Over the years after that more and more of St. Peter Port was illuminated. Festive Decor was established to oversee the ownership and annual erection of the lights and is now a limited liability company with charitable status. For many years the Young Business Group has assisted Festive Decor greatly by providing manpower for the erection of the lights and a plethora of cartoon creatures to accompany Father Christmas in the switch-on parade.
A lot has changed since 1964. In place of the hundreds of people who made their way to Fountain Street in 1964, we now have thousands thronging Church Square and the High Street thrusting their Christmas letters into Father Christmas’s hand. Every one of them gets a reply, provided that he or she puts his or her address on the letter!
The first set of lights cost £500. In 2000 it was realised that the current set of lights were becoming outdated and dangerous and that a completely new and up to date set of lights would cost over £100,000. This was an amount which it wouldn’t have been practical to collect from the St. Peter Port traders, so a public appeal was launched. The people of Guernsey came to the rescue and contributed well over the amount initially asked for, enabling Festive Decor to buy the impressive modern lights which can now be seen during the Christmas period each year.
One thing hasn’t changed since 1964. The lights don’t have anything to do with the States of Guernsey. Apart from welcome donations from the public, the lights are funded by the St. Peter Port traders just as they were over forty years ago.
