Have you ever heard of an event called “The Big Switch On”?
If yes, then you probably have this image of Times Square and a huge crowd in your mind. But if you’ve never heard of it, just like ourselves when The Royal Savoy Hotel invited us to their own adaptation of The Big Switch On, then you are missing a lot! The Big Switch On is an early Christmas celebration event hosted at Soho Square, and there’s honestly nothing quite like it to wake the Christmas spirit up!
The Big Switch On 2017 took place on the 17th of November where thousands of people from all over Sharm el Sheikh, if not EVERYONE in Sharm, gathered at Soho Square to celebrate the upcoming Christmas season. The square was filled with Christmas decorations; from angels and Christmas trees to Santa Clause and reindeers.
The first breathtaking moment of the event was when literally all the lights in Soho Square went out and after a 10 second countdown, all the Christmas decorations lit up turning the whole place into a beautiful bright-white Wonderland. A huge fountain in the middle of the square started bursting water to a huge altitude, dancing to the sound of classic Christmas tunes played by the Egyptian Orchestra Boghdady Big Band. The place was packed with guests from different nationalities; they were all absolutely mesmerized and kept taking pictures with the decorations and each other.
The Royal Savoy had a surprise prepared specially for us; they took us to the roof of the highest structure overlooking Soho Square. The view was breathtaking; you could see everything from up there! Almost all of Sharm was visible, but all we wanted to see at the time was right under our feet. People were so happy, kids and adults were playing with the snow created by special equipment, everyone was singing along with the band… It was truly a night filled with Christmas spirit. And then the unexpected happened, the fireworks. Spectacular fireworks in different shapes and colors lit up the sky, captivating us and everyone else below.
It didn’t end here though. To put the cherry on top of an already delicious cake, the famous Ukrainian Pop star Max Barskih set the Soho Square stage on fire for more than an hour while everybody danced and sang along.
This was a first timer for us, because we have never even heard of such an event before. Nevertheless, we had an amazing time and we have the Royal Savoy Hotel to thank for that. They really do know how to pamper their guests. The Big switch On happens every year, and we truly recommend you go attend next year’s event, because it’s most probably the closest thing to a White Christmas you can witness in Egypt.
