James: Right. This is pretty much straight from Wikipedia. The Council’s head of events at the time was a chap called Chubb. According to him, among other things, Winterval covered Diwali, the Hindu Festival of Lights, which was in October, and the Christmas lights switch-on, which was obviously a few weeks later. It also covered the BBC’s Children in Need, a candlelight service at a stately home in the city, Chinese New Year and New Year’s Eve. It was a well-meaning attempt by a council employee to create a festival season that would bring business to Birmingham for a much longer period than
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