'People still talk about the bears all the time' says Meadowhall manager as magical Christmas events begin
The centre director for South Yorkshire’s biggest shopping centre has reminisced about the most popular Christmas decorations over the years.
Since its opening in 1990, Meadowhall has been privy to a number of beloved Christmas decorations.
From the giant tree in the Oasis dining quarter, to appearances from Olly Murs and Louis Walsh as part of light switch-ons, the shopping centre has welcomed thousands to enjoy the most wonderful time of the year.
“We used to do those really traditional plunger-type things where a celebrity would switch the lights on,” Darren Pearce, Meadowhall’s centre manager, told The Star.
“I remember Simon Cowell coming here to do it, and he was really enthusiastic about it.
“Then of course we switched to things like huge concerts where we Olly Murs singing outside to 15,000 people there.
“Now we do something really quite magical as well with the parade - we have a Santa’s parade on the light switch-on night and that was amazing as well.
“But what I remember going back over time is the excitement of those periods and still now you can feel that - it’s really magical in the centre.”
And while there’s been countless memorable moments, there’s one decoration in particular that has never been forgotten.
“People talk about them all the time - ‘when are you going to bring the bears back?’” Darren added.
“That was years and years ago, but it’s still a feature in people’s memories.
“We’ve actually started trying to search for these bears now, to see whether we can bring them back - such is the level of demand.”