Author Monica Ali leads the countdown to the lights, as Shepway Voices watch – Photo: Ray Duff…
Words and pictures by Ray Duff… On Friday evening hundreds of people gathered in the Old High Street, beside the BigBoys venue platform area, to watch the switch-on of the creative quarter Christmas lights and the opening of the Folkestone Book Festival, headlined after HG Well’s novel ‘The Shape of Things to Come’.
Ahead of the event the Shepway Voices group gave impromptu performances of Xmas Carols in Sandgate Road, before moving to the Old High Street.
Alistair Upton, CEO of Creative Folkestone, welcomed all to the event saying that the book festival is the only one in the world where the first author launches it and the Xmas lights are switched on!
He then introduced world renowned novelist Monica Ali, who thanked everyone for attending and spoke of how excited she was to be able to perform the Xmas event. She then led everyone in the countdown, though at ‘1’, when there was a brief pause, before the gold and silver lighting flashed into life.
The Shepway Voices continued their carols and the crowds visited the shops, galleries, and cafe’s in the Old High Street and Tontine Street.