Cardiff Christmas lights fiasco

secretdancer

Was anybody else in Cardiff for the Christmas lights switch on last night (16th Nov)? It was an utter fiasco.Cbeebies live were booked amongst other acts for the show which began at 5.30pm, with the switch on taking place just after 6.30pm.

The organisers (Cardiff County Council) decided to host the event in the Civic Centre with the City Hall as the back drop. Fair enough you might think, plenty of space for everyone as events are regularly hosted here. Not so.

Firstly there is the Winter Wonderland which already takes up most of the grassed area in front of the City Hall. Then there's all the cars parked in and around the Civic Centre. Also the fact that it's 5.30 pm, rush hour, a busy Christmas shopping night, etc, etc

The main act was Cbeebies live. This attracts families with children under the age of 5, their siblings, mums and dads, grans and grandads, etc. Plus lots of the other people. Families with kids under 5 come with buggies. Logistically, plenty of space is needed to host events that attract a lot of people with kids and equipment. Safety is paramount.

Last night the Council tried to squeeze a big event into a tiny space without much thought for how people will get there to see it with their familes. The tiny space couldn't cope. It was apparent there was a problem as barriers were moved or climbed over, safety stewards lost control and the presenters kept reinforcing the fact that we have to be patient and calm in order to get out. Just not good enough.

Parents were left with disappointed kids as they couldn't see their favourite TV characters, tempers were heated and don't get me started on the idiotic placement of the burger vans. One 'big' screen was provided for people like me near the back of the crowd. I only just managed to squeeze in behind an offending burger van to let my son see the show on the screen. We missed most of it and all of the pathetic fireworks. Just not enough space.

Ok, so it was a free event, but come on Cardiff, you can do better.

Rachie_B

:eek: thats a shame

i am so glad we didnt go now !!! we were going to

but after waiting round for hours @ mc arthur glen for their lights etc on wed thought better of it ! not good when its raining / cold and you have kids moaning and whining :rolleyes: :rotfl:

mind you even i was pi55ed off and felt like having a moan :rotfl:

talking of the winter wonderland ,ive never been is it any good ?

funky-footprints

I always, always avoid events like that for the exact reasons you have listed. Free events are always the same ...... !!!!!

pavlovs_dog

i was going to go, but stayed in to finish my essay because of the rain. sounds like i didnt miss much!

lisa76

my friend in work took her 2 year old and said it was dreadful, i suppose she's lucky that her daughter is too young to really understand what was going on, but had she been that little bit older she would have been gutted not to see a thing - lets hope they get it better next year

Elixir

Aww, I was hoping this thread was going to be funny but its quite sad

Poor kids.

mollymunchkin

OMG that sounds like a right disaster. Glad I didn't bother making the 2 hour drive from Pembrokeshire - we were only going to see the Tweenies.

milliejon

My husband and I took my 3 year daughter. We weren't far from the front put ended up having to put her on my hubby's shoulders because she couldn't see. We left my 10mth old son with my mum in law.

I was really surprised at the amount of people there with children under one - they really don't understand what's going on. I saw one tiny baby (weeks old) being bounced around around without anything on his/her head. That was really sad.