I am repulsive

[Geoff Harvey]

In Brisbane Australia, Christmas is in the middle of summer - The days are hot and the nights are pleasant, My show is located on what is normally a quiet suburban street corner. There are only a limited number of possible parking spots for people to watch from their cars, and I have encouraged people to park and walk. Each evening I put out about a dozen chairs at the best vantage locations across the street on my neighbours footpaths. I have 2 sets of speakers on my fenceline and place 2 portable radios on the footpath across the street. For the 2 weeks before Christmas, I don a Santa hat and my shirt with sound activated lights and from 7:00 to 10:30 become a street walker handing out sweets to the children. This year the response has been fantastic.

People love to chat and find out more about the display. Repeat visitors are now bringing their own chairs and sometimes even set up a rug on the footpath and have dinner or drinks. For several of the songs, children and even adults dance on the footpath. This year I know of one engagement that occurred at my lights - I thought that special. Last year I was somewhat stunned when the crowd started applauding at the end of some sequences - WIW is fast and builds to a climax is still one of the most popular. This year during my introduction, the crowd often falls silent and sometimes applaud at the end.

I find crowd numbers difficult to estimate, but for the last 2 nights (22,23 Dec), I estimate there have been more than 500 people sitting/standing on the footpaths watching at any one time. Visitors often stay for an hour or so and watch the sequence (24 mins) through more than once. The show runs as a continuous loop. In the last 2 weeks, I have distributed about 20 kg of sweets. I find giving out sweets to the children is a great way to start up a conversation - the sound activated shirt panel also intrigues many of the visitors of all ages.

In conclusion, while I may or may not be ugly, I find my appearance on the street does not drive away visitors, and may even be an attraction. (Young children often remember the lights and the sweets from year to year).

For me, 2012 has certainly been a year to remember.