The switching-on ceremony became increasingly competitive because

The switching on of a town’s Christmas lights has become an increasingly competitive event over the years, (4) with some councils spending lots of money to attract A-list celebrities to do the honours.
    The historic English city of Bath was brought to a standstill as thousands of fans flocked to see the Hollywood actor Nicolas Cage conduct the switching-on ceremony. However, some celebrations do not go according to plan as was seen in Birmingham when dozens of people were injured in a crowd surge as the famous British boy band JLS took the stage.