Lawley Street Lights getting ready to bring some festive cheer
If there is one thing you have to do this festive season, it is to make your way through this legendary light show. Have you been this year? Send us your pictures!
After 28 years, it is difficult to find a Pretorian who does not know of the much-awaited Lawley Christmas lights that are put up every year in the usually sleepy Waterkloof neighbourhood.
In 1995, Lawley Street residents between Long and Sidney Street decided to bring some festive season spirit to their sleepy street. This has grown into the famous Lawley Street Lights that are put up every year for December.
The lights are switched on from 19:00 to 23:00 every evening from December 1, but this year, there will be a special Christmas Carol event on November 29 at 234 Lawley Street from 19:00.
The idea was the brainchild of Lawley Street resident Isobel (Belle) Hurly, who lived in the house on the corner of Sidney and Lawley Street.
She had visited her daughter in the USA and saw how much pleasure people found in decorating their houses with lights over Christmas.
Without any official committee, the Lawley Street Lights are organised spontaneously on each property by the residents.
Founding resident, Paul Harding, who hosted the first meeting about the lights, said people came from as far as Rustenburg to see the lights.
Harding told Rekord the street was preparing for the annual visitors already and residents were expecting more visitors than ever.
For the first few years, just a couple of houses took part. But in 1999, when the world celebrated the new millennium, the lights really took off.
“We thought maybe one or two houses would join, but about 75% of the street started taking part. It became a competition and something spectacular, with over 700 cars per hour at peak times,” said Harding.
Initially, only white lights were allowed, but when the showing of the lights had expanded by the new millennium, the rules fell away, leading to the spectacular show we can see today.
The Lawley Street Lights is a fun project, and residents have fought from early on to protect it against those attempting to detract from its open-to-all vision. This is why they have never charged an entrance fee to see the lights.
The residents also want to respect the diversity of cultures and beliefs in the area.
Harding told Rekord he hoped visitors would also respect their sentiments as they came to enjoy the annual event.
While residents have resisted linking the event to any specific organisation, they have worked on it with the Salvation Army in the past, and ask visitors to direct any donations towards that organisation.
They are also welcoming to buskers and carollers, who often show up for surprise performances. But they ask visitors to respect that the light show is outside their homes and that the house owners spend hundreds of thousands of rands every year to make it all happen.
Christmas would not be complete without a visit from Santa. From the very first Christmas back in 1995, Santa arrived on the back of a fire engine and dutifully distributed presents to the Lawley Street children and needy kids.
It has since become a tradition for Santa to arrive by novel means. Once Santa rode there on a bicycle, ringing his red bell. Another time, Santa arrived on a quad bike. Then one year, one of the many diplomatic residents offered to transport Santa in his red Ferrari and treated him to a trip around Pretoria before returning to Lawley Street. Harding told Rekord that Santa had the time of his life!
The Santa tradition has become increasingly difficult because the street had to be temporarily closed while Santa delivered his presents. This concerned the hordes of motorists who had now decided that Christmas Eve was a night out at Lawley Street.
The beauty of and perhaps the reason behind the success of this event is that there has never been an official committee and no bureaucracy, just a few caring neighbours giving selfless service to the community.
Harding said there are a couple of secret events that happen spontaneously down the street. Every year events such as a cycling ride, road runners walk, a Vesper run, and a Porsche ride happen without warning, treating visitors to an extra special experience. The embassies in the area also add their festive spirit to the mix, with chocolates from the Swiss Embassy and special guests from the Singapore Embassy making appearances for the visitors.
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