As one of the Greater Yarmouth Tourism and Business Improvement Area Ltd’s (GYTABIA) first projects to come to fruition, Marine Parade, Great Yarmouth’s Golden Mile is now aglow once again in the evening with 42 decorative sails in position in lamp posts all along the seafront. 

David Marsh, interim Chair of GYTABIA said; ‘The introduction of the BID means that our resort has finally got the funds it needs to display and maintain nearly 1½ miles of seafront decorative lighting, a long-held, eagerly anticipated tradition in seaside resorts across the country. This modern lighting scheme ensures the Golden Mile remains a bright focal point for Greater Yarmouth’s many millions of seaside holidaymakers.‘

The five year lighting contract worth £112,287 was won by Festive Lighting and the lights were installed by their local distributor, Cozens (UK) Ltd. More than 4 kilometres (2.7 miles) of LED rope lighting featuring 440 sets of lights and totalling 35,200 LEDs has been used to fabricate the 84 sails each measuring 3.7m tall x 0.7m wide in four different colours to fit in the existing lamppost apertures, installed as part of the inteGREAT seafront refurbishment programme in 2008.

Steve Cozens, Managing Director of Cozens (UK) Ltd said, ‘We were really pleased to hear that Festive Lighting had won the contract to install the lights, and were delighted to implement the project for them, on time and on budget. Great Yarmouth is a great seaside destination and the new lights really help set the scene for a fun evening on the seafront.’ 

The five-year contract which spans the duration of the business improvement district agreement includes all maintenance and a complete refurbishment in year three as sea salt and sea spray are recognised to be some of the harshest conditions for metal and electrical objects to withstand. 

The lights are scheduled to come on at dusk every evening on the seafront or to see them online, log on to the official tourism webcams at www.great-yarmouth.co.uk and choose the Marine Parade view. 

For more information see www.great-yarmouth.co.uk or contact Great Yarmouth Tourist Information Centre t. 01493 846346.