With Christmas drawing ever closer we look forward to the festive highlights this season has to offer:
This week sees the arrival of Cheltenham's Christmas Market, now in its 14th year. Situated along the picturesque Promenade, the stalls offer a wide variety of gifts, food, drink and crafts. We are looking forward to browsing their wares whilst sipping some mulled wine, wrapped up in our Cotswold coats and absorbing the festive atmosphere! Find your nearest Christmas Market by clicking here >
Screened in Gloucester's Guildhall on the 10th December (and in cinemas across the country), the Royal Opera House are hosting the Royal Ballet's production of Peter Wright's The Nutcracker. A firm festive favourite, featuring sumptuous costumes, amazing dances and a magnificent score. Definitely one to see to get you in the mood for Christmas.
Christmas at Highgrove is a special occasion, running from the 23rd November to the 16th December. Filled with gift ideas, local artisan products and delicious food, this is the perfect shopping experience. You can even enjoy a glass of champagne whilst you stroll amongst the stalls.
A modern master of jazz, Gregory Porter is perfect to listen to whilst we write out our Christmas cards as a soulful alternative to overplayed Christmas songs. Compared to various music legends, from Nat King Cole to Marvin Gaye, Porter is wonderful easy listening to while away wintry afternoons.
This much anticipated spin-off from the Harry Potter franchise is sure to provide family-friendly entertainment over the festive season. Set in 1920s New York, decades before Harry Potter et al, it chronicles the adventures of Newt Scamander, a Hogwarts graduate who has become a magizoologist (presumably someone who studies magical animals) and sets out to capture these beasts as they tear across New York. For those of us who are not familiar with the Harry Potter films, this fantasy film offers escapism, magical charm and more importantly, entertainment for children and grandchildren.
The Reader on the 6.27 is a heart-warming book that tells the tale of Guylain Vignolles, a lonely Frenchman who works in a pulp factory destroying books. He is torn between his existence and a wish for a better future and saves some pages of the books that he destroys to read on his morning commute. In these pages he discovers the diary of Julie, a woman who also feels alone in society and through this he realises the uplifting power of literature. Likened to Amelie in its tone, this book is sure to provide laughs and smiles aplenty. Great reading for the festive season!
With the demise of The Great British Bake Off as we know it, we were anxious about the future of our week nights and lack of Mary Berry but we need not have feared. It has been announced that she will present Secrets from Britain's Great Houses, a series that sees Mary Berry visiting stately homes across Britain, exploring their culinary past and creating her own recipes.
We are spoilt for choice with so many wonderful things to look forward to!
Is there something or someone that is inspiring you this festive season? If so let us know by leaving a comment using the box below.
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