ON a lighter note – both literally and metaphorically – may I offer my congratulations to Kirklees Council for last weekend’s festivities.

Our dear old local authority gets hauled over the coals in the Examiner on an almost daily basis for its various shortcomings and mishaps.

So it’s only right to acknowledge when Kirklees does something good – such as last week’s Festival of Light.

It’s strange to think that the event is only a few years old, so quickly has it become established in Huddersfield’s calendar.

Jenny and I went into town on Sunday afternoon to take in a bit of the atmosphere.

We had a look round the art show in the library and the lights in St Peter’s Gardens. We also enjoyed The Dukes Box, a five-piece band crammed into the back of a tiny caravan on New Street.

And I particularly liked the strange inflatable lobster which was being dragged through the town.

But I’m afraid I have one gripe about my Festival of Light experience.

Around 4.30pm we headed to St George’s Square for the finale of the festival – a carol concert by the Meltham and Meltham Mills Band, followed by fireworks.

Within a few minutes, it started to rain and a small number of inconsiderate festival-goers responded by putting up umbrellas, thus obscuring the view of the stage for the people behind them.

I’ve said it before in relation to Imbolc, which takes place in Marsden every January. And I’ll say it again now: If you don’t want to get wet, don’t go to outdoor events in Yorkshire in the winter.