Dozens of people have complained on social media about the pitiful show put on this year for Huddersfield’s Christmas lights switch on.
More than 1,000 people including families with young children stood in the freezing cold and rain and mud for much of Saturday afternoon waiting expectantly in the Piazza.
They were hoping for a big show with Santa abseiling down the library, sparkling lights and a fun time.
But the Pulse’s sound system was disappointing and struggled to provide any kind of volume to an increasingly frustrated crowd many of whom could barely hear anything.
And when the big moment came in the countdown to the lights being switched on it was impossible to tell if anyone had flicked a switch - or not.
James Carter wrote on Facebook: “Huddersfield need to pull their socks up. Nothing for the children. no stalls, outdoor food and drink, speakers on the stage didn’t work, if it wasn’t for the crowd at the front shouting 10,9,8,7 no one would have known what was going on.
“And for the Christmas lights, well all I can say is you can tell Kirklees council have an X amount of pounds deficit.
“Extremely poor and not something to be proud of for the biggest town in England.”
Louise Eleanor Singh added: “What a big let down. First off, a board could have been put down over the mud. My child was so disappointed. Why weren’t there any stalls or outdoor food or drinks?
“I was stood at the very front and could barely hear so can’t imagine what the people at the back could hear, what was the point to the singers?
“My child even said: ‘I thought we came to see the lights switched on’, Santa was absolutely rubbish, he had nothing to say, was rather pointless him being there.
“Unless changes are made I can’t see people continuing to attend in future. It was just awful.”
Nicola Carter said: “Was very disappointed with this year’s switch on. “Couldn’t hear any of the talking going on...and children thought Santa would abseil down the library like previous years and that didn’t happen.”
Sue Hodkinson said: “We were all very disappointed as [we] couldn't hear anything, couldn’t see and the groun was so wet and muddy.
“Why consider having the switch on in St. George’s Square where the tree is?”
A Pulse spokesman said: "I have spoken to our events team who have said they received no complaints about sound pressure levels during the event. We used the same set up as last year which proved to be more than adequate."
A Kirklees Council spokesperson said: "As in recent years, we have worked together with the Piazza Management Ltd and Pulse Radio on the switch-on of the festive lights in Huddersfield. It is only by working in partnership that it is possible to retain this event, at a time when the council faces unprecedented cuts to its finances.
"Neither the council or The Pulse were aware of problems with sound on the evening, as such we can only apologise if any of the many people who turned up had difficulty hearing the show.
"As part of their sponsorship of the event the Piazza Management arrange for a celebratory to attend and provide the location for the switch on event in the heart of the town centre, many of the local shops also stay open later on the night so people can continue to shop up to and after the switch on.
"As we do after every event of this nature we will review this years event and possible changes for next year in the light of all feedback received. If any other organisations with an interest in the town centre would like to be involved in planning next years festive light switch on event, or any other town centre events during the year, the Council would be pleased to hear from them."
