There are 16 days to go until Christmas and across the ELL boroughs there are plenty of festive things to do. From markets and pantomimes, to choral events, you can support local businesses and get into the festive mood.
So here is our guide to the best events to go to in the weekends leading up to Christmas.
1. Lewisham Market Winter Festival: Bauble Decorating Workshop
This Saturday at Lewisham Market Winter Festival, you can expect local live music from Lewisham Choral Society and Strawberry Thieves Choir as well as a bauble decorating workshop, where you can make a special gift for a friend or a new sparkler for your own tree. For those that are too old and sadly take themselves far too seriously for bauble making, there will always be an array of market stalls to graze from and a glass of mulled wine never too far away.
Where: Lewisham Market
When: Saturday December 10 but activities happening every Saturday up until December 17
Lewisham Council – Lewisham Market Winter Festival
Free entry
2. Gio’s Christmas Forest
Not too far away from Lewisham or Tower Hamlets is Gio’s Christmas Tree Forest. A family run business in the heart of Rotherhithe selling what can only really be described as free-range Christmas Trees which are tended and cared for all year round.
If you fancy making a day out of that dreaded Christmas tree haul, this is the place for you. You can walk around their forest and choose your tree with an exotic range from Fraser Firs to Nordmann Firs.
Where: Surrey Quays
When: 8:00-20:00 every day until Christmas
Real Christmas trees at Gio’s Christmas Tree Forest (gioschristmastreeforest.co.uk)
1. London Docklands Singers: Christmas Concert 2022
To really get you in the Christmas mood is the London Dockland Singers Christmas carol concert. The program is set to include some traditional favourites, plus some less familiar carols from different parts of the world.
Starting at 8pm on Monday 12 December, the event costs £6 and includes mulled wine and mince pies at the Space Bar and all proceeds will go to Crisis.
Where: The Space Bar
When: 8pm on Monday December 12
London Docklands Singers: Christmas Concert 2022 – The Space
2. Stepney City Farm Christmas Fair
On Saturday December 10 from 10:00-16:00 Stepney City farm will be holding its second annual Christmas Fair. As opposed to the rather intimidating hustle and bustle of commercial gift buying, all 35 stalls at the fair will be run by local businesses selling the essentials such as mulled wine, seasonal produce, and festive crafts all of which can be enjoyed in the presence of a brass band who will be performing sets all day.
The Farm’s very own resident artists will be opening their studios, the onsite café will be open as usual and as always at the farm, an animal or two will not be too far away.
Where: Stepney City Farm
When: 10:00-16:00 on Saturday December 10
Stepney Christmas Fair – Saturday 10 December 2022 – Stepney City Farm
1. Noir Kringle: The Black Santa’s Grotto Experience
Set up by Charlotte Lewis, who found that people of colour were extremely underrepresented in Christmas narratives, Noir Kringle was designed to rectify this problem and provide magical experiential events that spread diverse Christmas cheer.
From December 17 to 20 at the Crooked Billet Yard in Shoreditch there will be storytelling, elf school and of course an appearance by their Black Santa. You can even create an invitation to send to little ones inviting them to the grotto. You will also be greeted by the sounds, smells, and spirit of Christmas that encapsulate Black British culture to awaken the senses.
Where: the Crooked Billet Yard in Shoreditch
When: from December 17 to 20
NOIR KRINGLE THE BLACK SANTA’S GROTTO EXPERIENCE
2. Hackney Empire: Mother Goose
For a not so typical Christmas Experience, Hackney Panto is showing its beloved Mother Goose production. Starring Clive Rowe as Mother Goose, the production is back for its 120th birthday.
The play is based on the simple yet very intellectual conundrum, “What would you do if you found a magical goose who lays golden eggs?”
Full to the brim with all the classic pantomime ingredients, this extravagant recreation of a rags-riches tale full of garish costumes and terrifically unfunny yet funny humour, this is not one to miss.
Where: Hackney Empire Theatre
When: Running once or twice a day up until the December 31 with performances on Christmas Eve and Boxing Day.
1. Beckenham Christmas Vintage Market at the Mansion
This weekend you can immerse yourself in the vintage Christmas markets at Beckenham Place Park, with a festive spread over two days. You can expect to find brilliant and original Christmas presents for loved ones with 40 vintage traders selling antique homeware, furniture, designer clothes and accessories. There will be street food and coffee on sale, perhaps accompanied by a glass of mulled wine.
For an even more special Christmassy gift the Mansion’s resident artists will be opening their studios. The sewing school will be open on the ground floor along with the Verso Vintage pop-up shop for those looking for a fiddly gift. For foodies the farmers market will indeed also be open.
If the commercial, fluorescent bustle of inner-city Christmas markets are not for you then this new rustic take on the Christmas market is a good option.
Where: Beckenham Place Park
When: 10:00-16:00 on Saturday December 10, 10:00- 17:00 Sunday December 11
Free Entry
So Last Century’s Christmas Vintage Market at the Mansion – Beckenham Place Mansion
2. Theatre Workshop Coulsdon’s Christmas, “Grimm Tales“
This year Theatre Workshop Coulsdon’s Christmas production is “Grimm Tales“, a theatrical adaption weaving together ten of the most famous tales of the Brothers Grimm. For those that aren’t looking for that standard cheesy pantomime this Christmas, “Grimm Tales” delves into a rich dark seam of lost European folklore.
If you wish to sit down, relax, and have a darker more mysterious Christmassy experience to get you in the festive spirit this pantomime is not one to miss.
Where: Coulsdon Community Centre
When: Performances at 19:45 on December 10, and 14-17. Performances at 15:00 on December 11, 17 and 18.
