Christmas Lights on Champs-Élysées 2012

Actress Diane Kruger will turn on the lights on November 21, changed back to “reinforce the Christmassy feel”.

Last year the avenue was kitted out with a conceptual light display by design duo Koert Vermeulen and Marcos Vinals, each of its 200 trees hung with three huge coloured energy-saving hoops (pictured above).

But two thirds of passers-by questioned in an IFOP survey at the time said the display had moved “too far away from the traditional image of Christmas.”

This year’s display has been revamped to bring back a more “fairytale quality,” explained the traders’ group.

In addition to the coloured hoops, the trees will be decked out with seven metres of sparkling garlands, creating giant curtains of light running down the famed avenue.

As was the case last year, the entire set-up will be fuelled by a solar farm, part of a drive that has slashed the annual display’s energy consumption by 90% since 2006.