Tony Miles, known as Smiley Miley, will be making sure that Clifton Village gets all lit-up later this month for the twentieth Christmas running.
The Events Organiser not only decorates the Norwegian Spruce Christmas Tree with 5,000 LED lights but also sources it and arranges for it to be lifted by crane on to its traditional spot in The Mall Gardens. He also organises a well-known personality to switch the lights on.
Tony Miles found the tree at a forestry in Worcestershire. Besides the lights the tree will be decorated with 100 baubles, tinsel and Christmas crackers.
“This is very much a community event. We start with festive singing at six o’clock. Half an hour later the vicar of nearby Christ Church, The Reverend Matt Southcombe, will bless the tree. He arrived at Christ Church earlier this year so this is his first Christmas in Clifton.
“After the Vicar’s Blessing a well-known personality will switch on the lights. We’re not divulging the name of the personality until nearer the event” said Tony Miles.
“This has become the most significant community event in Clifton Village each year. People from all around Bristol and beyond pack the streets around The Mall Gardens.
The tree and Christmas decorations are paid for by local traders through Clifton Improvement District (BID). The tree lighting ceremony starts at 6pm on November 26.
Tony Miles got his nickname of ‘Smiley’ while working on the BBC’s legendary Radio One Roadshow which started in 1973 and ran for nearly three decades.