Regent Street’s Christmas lights entered a new era in 2016. On the evening of 17 November, the West End shopping street unveiled The Spirit of Christmas: a procession of luminous winged figures suspended above its famous curve. This Roberts London film follows the crowds gathering for the switch-on and records the installation during its first season.

Regent Street before the switch-on

The film begins away from the ceremony and gradually approaches the West End after dark. By the time the camera reaches Regent Street, the normal rhythm of buses, taxis and shoppers has given way to an event atmosphere. A traffic-free section of the street provides room for spectators, while staff and police manage the growing crowd.

The switch-on took place at 6pm, with Holly Willoughby among the guests at the launch. Yet the lasting star of the evening was the new lighting scheme itself. For people used to Regent Street’s previous festive displays, the first sight of the angels brought an immediate change in scale and character.

The first Spirit of Christmas display

The 2016 installation was a modern reimagining of the angel lights that decorated Regent Street in 1954. Its winged figures were designed to follow the architecture of the street rather than compete with it. The repeated forms appear to fly above the traffic and shopfronts, drawing the eye along the sweep from Oxford Circus towards Piccadilly Circus.

The figures were technically ambitious as well as theatrical. The display used around 300,000 LED lights. Each of the largest spirits had a wingspan of 17 metres and a 15-metre illuminated train, dimensions that become easier to understand when the film places them above the full width of Regent Street.

Christmas shopping in the West End

Once the formal switch-on has passed, the film becomes a long night-time walk. Shoppers return to the pavements and illuminated storefronts fill the lower half of the view, while the spirits create a second layer of light overhead. The contrast captures what Regent Street does especially well at Christmas: grand civic theatre combined with the ordinary movement of a working shopping district.

Nearby streets contribute smaller displays of their own. Star-shaped lights lead away from the main route, offering a quieter counterpoint to the enormous angels. Returning to Regent Street makes the scale of the principal installation feel even more pronounced.

A London Christmas design that endured

Filmed on the launch night and published on 23 November 2016, this recording preserves the moment a now-familiar London Christmas image was still completely new. Later versions of the Spirit of Christmas scheme would return to Regent Street, but this first season carried the excitement of discovery.

The film also records the experience around the display: the wait, the crowds, the temporary road closure and the walk through the West End afterwards. Together they turn a set of decorative lights into a portrait of London assembling for the start of the festive season.