Here’s the tea: the official “switch-on” event for a street can be a massive, ticketed affair or a traffic-stopping party. But the lights themselves? They’re often tested for a few nights before. So if you’re strolling down Oxford Street on October 30th and see a single bauble glowing, you aren’t hallucinating. You’ve witnessed the secret test run.
Also, and this is key: the lights stay on until early January. That’s right, you can see them through New Year’s Day and even into the first week of January. So if you’re a last-minute Christmas shopper (or just a procrastinator), you’re in luck. No FOMO there.
