Thursday 15th November 2012
Location: George Square, Glasgow
Tickets: Free. ENTER TICKET BALLOT BEFORE MIDNIGHT ON 30TH SEPT.
Wrap yourself and the kids up warm and head along for a special night in George Square in November 2012, for Glasgow’s annual Christmas Lights Switch On event.
Gates open at 4:30pm and strictly no entry after 6:15pm
This year you’ll be treated to a night of fun and frolics as George Square’s monuments and Christmas tree are lit up once again.
Enjoy the Christmas carol sing along, then join in the big countdown and watch the spectacular fireworks display!
The line-up hasn’t been announced yet, but last year Glasgow’s Christmas Lights Switch On was hosted by Clyde 1 with performances from Karen Dunbar star of Sleeping Beauty at The Kings Theatre, Rock Choir and a very special performance of Sleeping Beauty by Scottish Ballet; Glasgow’s Christmas Lights is a spectacular family favourite event not to be missed.
Tickets
Tickets for 2012 Christmas Lights Switch On in George Square will are being balloted this year due to the previous few years’ phenomenal demand. You must enter the ballot before midnight on Sunday 30th September 2012.
Only one entry is permitted per household, and there is a maximum of 6 tickets per household. The ballot will take place in early October.
You can enter online here or by visiting one of Glasgow’s libraries.
Sign up for the Glasgowvant newsletter and we’ll let you know if any of the details for the George Square Christmas lights switch on change.
Everyone, it seems that Ticketsoup has put more tickets on sale. Get on quick and grab your tickets!!!!!!!!!
I got mine when they went on sale but I can’t miss an opportunity to let you all know as quickly as possible… hope you can get some x
we got tickets as my husband went personally to get them l was lucky to be working so he had to go he was freezing but it was worth it . we go every year, but missed out last year when we didnt get tickets this spoiled our family tradition of 18 years our “kids” are 18 and 15 but they are still coming and looking forward to a great night out
Does anyone know roughly when the tickets will be posted out for this years lights switch on at george square??
I contacted ticket soup about this and they said that tickets wouldn’t be delivered until about 2 weeks before the actual event so I’m guessing they will post them round about the 5th of November.
Thanks Ainsley,
My biggest complaint is that every year the tickets go on release during the half-term school holiday and those of us working in schools who can only take holidays during the school breaks miss out by being away, yes I know we’re lucky enough to be able to afford a half-term holiday but can someon at the council not do joined-up thinking and realise that many families might be unable to access websites on the day they release the tickets, oh and btw the date of the turn-on was really late being advertised and even after that it was a good while before the date of the ticket release was advertised, leaving most with a few days to get organised.
Really upset that I didn’t get tickets! No thanks to ticketsoup! Anyone know if extra are going on sale nearer the time?
we in same boat. sorry not heard anything . but we have been told on the day you can buy them outside .
I didnt have any bother booking online. Got my tickets around 9.03am. It did say i had only 5 minutes to fill in the form because of the high volume of people trying to book them but apart from that everything went smoothly.
Just a quick moan about ticketsoup, for which a description of incompetent is most definitely being kind.
They should never have been given charge of selling tickets for the christmas lights event as neither their website nor their phone lines could handle the number of people trying to use them.
My husband also went down to stand in the queue because neither of us believed what the ticketsoup website was telling us: that the tickets were sold out by 9.03am. There were a good 250 people in the queue and 2 people on the ticket desk until 10am when a few more staff arrived. How can they possibly start selling tickets at 9am when they don’t have staff to cover the demand? Apparently their box office doesn’t open until 10am. It makes you wonder whether there was anyone manning the phone lines at all… Did anyone get through and speak to a person before 10am I wonder…
I too had the same problem as some of the people on here. According to Ticket Soup the tickets were all sold out at 9.01 am!? And the ticket line was constantly engaged- i must have tried at least 50 times. I think there must have been a problem with the website though i.e. too many people on at once.And obviously as the website was no good, the phone lines must have been chock-a-block. Ticket Soup should have maybe looked into getting in extra people to operate the phones; they must have surely known it would be really popular.
However, my perseverance held out, and after 45 minutes I was eventually able to order my tickets! I cant wait, I have been every year more or less sinse I was about 4 or 5; Im now 21.
To the people who say they werent made aware of the ticket release dates, they are released at around the same time every year. I have been constantly checking the City Council website from September.
Btw Maggie, Id get to the Counting House nice and early if I were you, as loads of people will have had the same idea. Its always mobbed when the lights are switched on, as is Burger King in Queen Street Station.
x
lines were jammed from 9.00am, could not get through engaged tone repeatedly. not happy ”’as for lynda stevens comments, glasgow george sqaure event went for years without being ticketed, and we all managed .it is health and safety that is killing this country.its over the top maybe when she is effected with it she wont be so smart. sounds like she works for the council probably got her tickets without trying to phone every 2 min
Actually casa, I spent about an hour trying to get tickets on saturday just like everyone else. And after calling 89 times according to my mobile (I still haven’t managed to get through to speak to anyone), and simultaneously continuously refreshing the web page it finally started working and I got myself a pair of tickets.
I still don’t have a problem with the event being ticketed – last year the square was pretty full, and it would have been uncomfortable, particularly for young kids, had the square been totally rammed. I do have a problem with ticketsoup though, who handled the ticket sales terribly.
And it’s affected. Not effected.
Got up at 8.50am this morning to order my tickets online, at 9.02am there were many messages saying how they were sold out and that there was an error. However my perseverance paid off and at 9.40 I eventually got through to payment and ordered my six tickets. Can’t wait for such a great night with all my family. The early Saturday morning was well worth it. Can’t wait!!! x
I was up at 8.30 to phone the hospital n see how my gran was, then after that, sat re-dialling the ticketsoup number over and over and also on my laptop in the website queue and still didn’t get any tickets!!!!!! So before anyone else “you should have got up earlier. . . .blah blah blah” I was up early and have known for weeks when the tickets were going on sale and yet still didn’t get any!!! It really is a disgrace, especially when I KNOW that tickets will start appearing on ebay tomorrow – its not just the council who want to line their coffers!!! We should boycott these people and not buy their tickets no matter how cheap you may think they are, well unless its less than £3. with free p+p . . . but lets face these greedy people want as much profit as possible. So I won’t be buying any tickets, my fiance and myself will just watch the excitement from the warm confines of the Counting House with some drinks and a hot meal!! Take that Glasgow City Council – and dont even get me started on the ridiculous license laws imposed by the council – i am really struggling to plan my wedding because my sister is my bridesmaid and under 18!! So she’ll be getting kicked out at 10pm!! Glasgow City Council is a JOKE!!! I did modern studies at school and we were taught that the council is supposed to be there to help the people of the city!! NO they are there to help themselves!!! Ok rant over, apologies x
oh im so right behind you in this .. no need to apoligise you are 100% intitled to rant .
Try a different link on Ticket Soup and eventually got to order tickets only for my payment not to go through and to contact the enquiries line!!! After holding for 25, yes 25 minutes I eventually got them, so keep trying everybody!!!
Think the phone line might be the best option as the internet seems to be having problems!
I’ve been trying since 9am too and got the same sold out messages at 9.03. I didn’t believe it either and it just seemed that their website was completely unable to deal with the volume of people coming to it.
After 45 minutes of it telling me it was sold out, it just worked a few minutes ago. Try again!!!
I have been on the internet since 9am trying to get tickets at 9.04am told tickets were sold out surely this cant be the case. So dissappointed
I am absolutely raging. Tried to get tickets and Ticketsoup say they’re sold out at 9.02 am I don’t believe this for a minute!!! Have contacted Watchdog!!
I have just tried to get tickets on line, and it is coming up sold out????? At 9.00am????
What is going on???
I didnt read any of this last year.. but the simple answer is “get up early on a saturday and book the tickets” .. you cant moan if you dont get on early.. the lights are magnificent, well organised and properly stewarded.. well done Glasgow .. we’ve been every year since my sone was 2 (now 15) and when it wasnt ticketed there was chaos and no crowd control.. now its safe, fun and friendly..
Again, well done Glasgow !!!
Well good 4 u.
We are a family of 6.
For every year there were no tickets, we got to enjoy the show.
Our younger three children were in pushchairs, my husband, teenager and my self had a baby and buggy.
We all loved this event and it kicked off our Christmas for the smaller girls in our family.
Since they introduced tickets we have struggled to get them every year. Resulting in great disappointment all round.
Both my husband and I work full time, my husband works shift work. Myself with Glasgow City council, and are not able to access computers with in our work.
So again this year for not want of trying to received tickets,(placed ourselves on the waiting lists again, face booked friends for any spares) our 3 youngest will be greatly disappointed.
So enjoy you event.
its used to be free and thats wen they got more people goin kno they want less how sad people goin fur years now they have to get tickets bad way it should be open to all it the glagow lights
It sounds like a great event. I tried to buy tickets for it last year but they’d sold out. I was actually busy on the night they were switched on so I couldn’t go anyway. I’d love to go to a future switch on though. I go in Newcastle all the time.
I am going to moan about something else entirely. We went to George square yesterday to see the lights. As soon as we arrive there is a big helterskelter chute, £2 each for 1 turn!!! then we moved onto the horses…£2.50 for 1 turn!!! i think these prices are disgraceful. As a struggling wee family we had to allow the kids on the ride while mummy and daddy stood at the side. I was so glad when the swings were too big for them. Maybe you should get a discount for being a Glaswegian?
all these people are whining that they never got tickets and children were dissapointed. why the hell would you get them hyped up about something that is not a certainty? don’t blame the council for your ridiculously bad parenting skills.
Does not sound like you are a parent Victoria or indeed know much about children or parenting…..
I agree with alot of what’s been said here, the council aren’t handling it very well, and George Square is a public place and also that the council must be making an absolute fortune from the stalls n rides that are set up in the Square. The fact that people are actually selling their tickets on ebay is a disgrace. Its because of these money grabbing scum bags that honest folk like us who do actually want to see the swith on miss out. But I did still go to town that night and witness the lights and fireworks from Ingram st which wasn’t so bad – and I didn’t have to work through a busy crowd. So when did the tickets become available then?? No one has mentioned this yet!!! M
My boyfriend got tickets for me and our mates this year from the website and we knew for ages when they would be on sale. If you really wanted to see the lights youdve been on here looking out for the tickets for a long time rather than expecting them to magically turn up. In the past there have been accidents in george square due to the amount of people so just because it didnt happen to you doesnt mean it didnt happen. The Lights were great this year the atmosphere was still amazing and the fireworks were absolutely fantastic, well done glasgow
x
We were lucky enough to win 2 tickets through the competition as unfortunately we missed out when calling the ticket line. The event on a whole was a good experience, the signage and direction was easily followed leading you straight into the square without much difficulty. The staff were very friendly and in good christmas cheer. We arrived just about 6pm so never saw all of the show, i would say there seemed to be a problem with the sound and mics. We were standing at the Christmas Tree and could not hear the singers from Beauty and the Beast which was a shame although they could be seen on the large screen. The countdown to the lights and fireworks was good and long awaited by the look of the children’s faces, i think the Lord Provost speech slightly bored the children but this was quickly forgotten by the brilliance of the lights and fabulous fireworks display which seemed to go for sometime well worth seeing. Trying to make our way out the square seemed to be abit of an obstacle and not very user friendly for people with buggies/elderly and toddlers most of which seemed to be getting pushed over or falling over. I think it would have been reasonable to open up the side streets to allow the crowds to disperse evenly instead of creating 2 bottle necks at either side of the square. On the whole it was a lovely evening out and friends who were there earlier than ourselves advised that the Choir were fab. I would maybe suggest for next year that the issue with the sound be looked into and maybe a better larger more festive Santa be present to really get the crowd excited and christmassey.
I thought it was a great event, especially the firewroks which were amazing, we had 3 kids with us and they really enjoyed themselves, only problem was getting through the crowd to the stage so the kids could see the singing Kettle and Beauty and the Beast, it was very well organised.