The village has a proud tradition of staging one of the most spectacular Christmas light displays in Sussex, attracting people from miles around and raising more than £123,500 for charity over the years.
The event which sees home owners decorating their houses and gardens, goes back to 1975.
Last year saw one of the biggest launch events for the lights, with drummers, DJ’s a choir and a tractor run. A spokesperson for the event organisers said: “This year we are going back in time to the old way of the Christmas lights with no entertainment, no Lights on the island trees, no Lights on the war memorial and the road in front of the houses of Churchfield will not be blocked off, which we do for safety reasons. This is because we upset some of the residents of the village with the number of people that turned up for the big switch on and mainly the Christmas Lights Tractor Run last year, subsequently they have complained to East Sussex Highways about us. “A representative of East Sussex Highways came out last year after the lights had finished and told us that they wanted the lights in the trees taken down immediately. “We were then told we would have to apply for licences to put the lights in the trees, put cables across the grass between the trees, cables across the road to the island trees, for putting up a gazebo for the band to play in, no sponsorship boards on the grass and also apply for a road closure in front of the houses. We were also told there would be no guarantee that the licences would be approved. “Some residents gave us verbal grief and aggressive abuse last year. This was mainly due to The Tractor Run which obviously did cause a major problem with the traffic and with the number of visitors that came to the village that night. We never ever expected to see so many people.
"The team and other volunteers that night were caught out and didn’t realise illuminated tractors would be so popular. We are very sorry to the villagers for the poor parking of the visitors, which resulted in them being late home or stuck in queues. “The residents light up their houses and the Christmas Lights team do their part of lighting up the extra parts of the village all for free, hopefully putting smiles on everyone’s faces especially the children, putting the village on the map and as a bonus we raise money for charity. “We will be collecting again for charity but we might not be doing this every night but you will see us all one night sitting in deck chairs raising a glass to our dear friend and one of the team Malcom Foster who we sadly lost earlier this year. “We have had hundreds of people and tractor drivers all asking if there will be another Westfield Christmas Lights Tractor run? The answer is yes but it will not start in Westfield. Our friends at Rural Past Times and Little Down Christmas Tree Farm that mainly organised this for us have been in contact with the team and we are all in the process of arranging this over a larger route so that the spectators can view this in a much larger area, with it not starting in Westfield. Details of this will follow soon.”
Pictures of last year’s lights by Frank Copper.
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Last year saw one of the biggest launch events for the lights, with drummers, DJ’s a choir and a tractor run. A spokesperson for the event organisers said: “This year we are going back in time to the old way of the Christmas lights with no entertainment, no Lights on the island trees, no Lights on the war memorial and the road in front of the houses of Churchfield will not be blocked off, which we do for safety reasons. This is because we upset some of the residents of the village with the number of people that turned up for the big switch on and mainly the Christmas Lights Tractor Run last year, subsequently they have complained to East Sussex Highways about us. “A representative of East Sussex Highways came out last year after the lights had finished and told us that they wanted the lights in the trees taken down immediately. “We were then told we would have to apply for licences to put the lights in the trees, put cables across the grass between the trees, cables across the road to the island trees, for putting up a gazebo for the band to play in, no sponsorship boards on the grass and also apply for a road closure in front of the houses. We were also told there would be no guarantee that the licences would be approved. “Some residents gave us verbal grief and aggressive abuse last year. This was mainly due to The Tractor Run which obviously did cause a major problem with the traffic and with the number of visitors that came to the village that night. We never ever expected to see so many people.
13. Westfield Christmas Lights 2023. Photo by Frank Copper.
Westfield Christmas Lights 2023. Photo by Frank Copper. Photo: Frank Copper
14. Westfield Christmas Lights 2023. Photo by Frank Copper.
Westfield Christmas Lights 2023. Photo by Frank Copper. Photo: Frank Copper
15. Westfield Christmas Lights 2023. Photo by Frank Copper.
Westfield Christmas Lights 2023. Photo by Frank Copper. Photo: Frank Copper