Festive Lights

Posted By: Wera Hobhouse
Date Posted: 26/08/2009

As if in some sort of bad dream I have just returned from my summer holidays into a different time zone. It’s cold, it’s wet and The Festive Lights Are About to Go Up. I thought it was August!
Eid is coming up towards the second half of September and I fully support that we should celebrate it with festive lights. When Eid and Christmas fall roughly around the same time it is probably acceptable to celebrate these with the same display of festive lights although I did deplore in previous years that there was not a single display of ‘Happy Christmas’ anywhere in Rochdale town centre while we did have ‘Eid Mubarak’ displays.
In the name of tolerance and respect to our diverse traditions and beliefs we should remember our religious festivals at the correct time and the displays should reflect something of the spirit and meaning of that festival. I wonder whether members of our Muslim communities think that the snowmen and Christmas candles that have now been put up reflect their understanding of Eid and whether the Eid Mubarak display should linger across the Butts until next February (as it did this year).

Similarly putting festive lights up four months before the actual festival (and as a sort of left over from a different festival) doesn’t show any respect to those for whom Christmas still matters. It misses the point.

I do understand that the Council has to provide ‘value for money’, but not to this absurd level.
We spend the money for festive lights for the pleasure of our residents to enhance a festive mood, but outside these festivals the festive lights become meaningless and we might as well not bother to spend the money in the first place.