Christmas in town bringing no end of cheer

All these people getting far too early with putting up their festive decorations and Christmas cards in shops in September – it used to make me chunter for hours on end!

This year, all that has changed for me.

The joy of seeing Christmas trees and decorations up across the Harrogate District from mid-November has given me no end of cheer, as we come to the end of quite frankly a shocker of a year.

My timeline is full of people getting their trees up at home.

There is an abundance of lights adorning people’s gardens and the Christmas lights in town are pretty spectacular this year, thanks to an investment from the Business Improvement Districts (BID).

Personal faves of mine are The Yorkshire’s advent calendar and Albert Row which boasts simple but beautiful lights and also some spectacular window displays – they are definitely worth a look.

For our part here at Harrogate International Festivals (HIF) Towers, we had big plans working with the BID this year.

There was a Santa’s grotto, an ice rink and all manner of festive activities.

These events, alongside our whole season this year, have fallen by the wayside due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but we wanted to do something that would make people smile, ensure some Christmas traditions and add to the Christmas joy around the town.

This culminated in the North Pole Post Office – Harrogate Branch, being set up.

A bright red post box, which had fabulous lights, Bublé belting out the Christmas tunes and occasional flurries of snow.

The North Pole Post Office post box has already seen a host of families pose for pictures and more than 200 letters even before we hit December.

For those who are frantically scribbling their letters right now, the North Pole Post Office – Harrogate Branch is located at the HIF Office and it has been an absolute privilege to be one of Santa’s helpers behind the scenes.

Hearing the excitement from kids, opening the letters and reading the Christmas wishes of all of these children – although elf and Santa isolation seems to be a major concern for the older children – there’s plenty of beautiful pictures of Rudolph, and of glitter, hopefulness and happiness to keep HIF Towers going for weeks.

Aside from the festive activities Harrogate International Festivals is back in action with Berwins Salon North. We are thrilled that Berwins has returned as title sponsor for another year, with their motto of ‘no ordinary lawyers’.

And it is fair to say that the Salon North seasons are no ordinary events.

These online events are definitely the go to night ‘out’ while staying in.

The events will be streamed from December 10 and the subjects are designed to entertain and inform with our pre-Christmas events covering such topics as how to map the future, also why we eat (too much) and in addition how to make the most of this new slowdown.

These are all skills that I would like to know more about as we move into a fresh year with so many unknowns.

For now, I will wish you all a happy Christmas, and urge you to stay safe and to get those festive lights up immediately!