Lights could be switched

Walsall Illuminations may be scrapped as an annual event and staged every other year in a bid to create a buzz around the lights show, which has hit a record low.

Visitor numbers dropped by a quarter to 120,000 last year, compared to 377,000 in 1989, and losses spiralled to £214,000, despite £20,000 being spent on consultants.

Councillor Garry Perry, who held the leisure portfolio for four years and is now Walsall Council Cabinet member for communities and partnerships, is pushing for the radical change.

He said: “I don’t support scrapping the Illuminations completely but I do think there is mileage in cutting back to alternate years.”What this would allow us to do is build up the event gradually and make it a worthwhile visitor attraction for the people of Walsall, the wider Black Country and beyond.

“Having it every other year would mean people would look forward to it and wait for Illuminations year to roll around.

“This would create a buzz of excitement around the Illuminations and that could be just what is needed to revive it.”

The Express & Star revealed a week ago that the event would revert back to the traditional dates having tried a later and longer run.

Consultants hired to revamp the event, in Walsall Arboretum, recommended it be put back to run from mid-October to December in a bid to cash in on the Christmas calendar and other festivals such as Halloween, Bonfire Night and Diwali.

But the move failed to win favour with families and has been scrapped, with this year’s dates fixed for September 26 to November 2.

Councillor Perry added: “We can’t compete with Blackpool, it is a seaside resort, but Walsall Illuminations has a long and proud history and is one event we want to keep on the calendar.”

The idea is one of a number of options currently being considered.

By Lyndsey Hunt