By NICKI LETTS

BRIGHT’S towering Christmas tree was lit up for the first time on Monday evening, marking the start of the festive season.

A combination of the recent pandemic restrictions and bad weather meant there were no crowds to see the lights switched on this year, but that didn’t stop the community from rallying together to put up the 5.8-metre-high tree in front of the town’s Uniting Church.

Gail Bennett, president of the Bright Lights Winter Nights committee, said people were very generous with their time.

“We want to thank everyone for their help, especially Brett Ralph from the Christmas shop and Tony Donnellan for their huge effort getting the tree up," she said.

"They worked tirelessly all day on Monday.

“It took three trailer loads to get the tree to where it is, the volunteers did an amazing job.

“Also, we want to thank Sheridan, Mike, Mark and Yvonne for all of their help during the day, Bright Electrical for their assistance and the Anglican Church for the use of their grounds.”

Ms Bennett said the committee were also grateful to the community for their patience.

“Due to the continuous changes around COVID-19 we could not hold our annual market and lighting of our Christmas tree,” she said.

“It’s a real shame because that was one of the best nights last year.

"But we’ll come back bigger and better next year.”

The Bright Lights Winter Nights committee, which formed last year to improve the town’s decorations, raised $17,000 from raffles and received a $5000 community grant from Alpine Shire Council in 2019 to fund new decorations.

Ms Bennett said the committee’s efforts will continue in the new year to plan a street party, market and a family barbecue in 2021.

“We will be raffling another beautiful Christmas tree to raise funds to continue our efforts to beautify Bright even more and to give back to the community at Christmas time,” she said.

“In the meantime, we wish a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all.”