With only seven weeks to go until Rye celebrates Christmas with “Tales of Old” on Saturday, December 10, it is time to stir your stumps and think hard about what you can do on the day – and maybe the town can experiment?
A reminder of last year’s Christmas festivities was shown at the Kino cinema this week in the form of a short video (greeted with applause) which should be available to all shortly on Youtube, [we will carry a link – ed.] the online source of many fascinating videos (if only I could work out how to turn the sound on and up) including one about how man-of-many-parts John Izod, whose Christmas cartoon features above and who sadly died earlier this year, came to star in a feature film.
The video shown at the Kino not only captured the many aspects of last year’s celebration, from reindeer to stilt walkers and pudding races, but it also showed the many aspects of Rye – which is still a port with tidal rivers – alongside many historic buildings ranging from Norman times through to Tudor and Georgian houses.
However organising all this takes time and effort and the volunteers behind it hope that it will become in time an umbrella organisation with others “doing their own thing” (such as having gigs in pubs on the evening of December 10) and it not all being left to a few.
Sadly this year’s Rye’s Got Talent show fell through at the last minute due to a lack of enough competitors, and next year it may be staged at a more family-friendly time. But much is being organised, and much needs organising – which is down to all of us.
To find about this year’s event, and what you can or might be able to do, visit either www.christmasinrye.co.uk or www.facebook.com/christmasinrye ; or watch the video when it gets on Youtube ; or read how Rye News reported last year’s event.
Rye was packed last year and similar historic towns, such as Totnes in Devon near which I used to live, have a number of days (not just one) in the run up to Christmas with street stalls – often run by the shop in front of which they stood – temporary pedestrianisation, processions and music, as well as “park and ride” arrangements.
And Christmas markets and other events often become an opportunity to try out temporary plans which then become more permanent. Dartmouth in Devon (home of the Royal Naval College), for example, has narrow historic streets in a steep valley and the annual three-day regatta (much patronised by the royalty and armed services) requires much of the town to be car free, with “park and ride” at the top of the hill. And agricultural shows in Devon required similar arrangements.
So perhaps events such as Christmas, and indeed Bonfire Night, are good times to experiment with alternative ways of organising our town. But, in the meantime, there are only seven weeks to go until Rye’s Christmas event, and a highlight last year was how individual homes, shops and other buildings were lit up – provided the local electric network can cope!
Photo: Rye News Library