Gets earlier every year?

[Deej]

Commercialised rubbish.

Christmas Day with the family and that's it.

[floragord]

I enjoy the build-up to Christmas, Deej - as from early December!! The shop and street decs, carol services and parties, so the festivities have some relation to the special day, writing now on 11 Oct we're already flooded with "buy NOW to avoid disappointment" on everything from restaurant bookings to woolly sock companies!!

[Poppy]

Yes, I agree floragord, the build up to Christmas is thoroughly enchanting and enjoyable.

Lighten up Deej: there's got to be one event of a year which everyone looks forward to!

[Eddie Muir]

Lighten up Deej: there's got to be one event of a year which everyone looks forward to!

Well said, Poppy!

[Katharine]

I think a month to 6 weeks is long enough to 'build up' to Christmas, any longer and I feel it loses that special feeling.

I felt the same way about the Olympics. There had been so much hype in the years, let alone months beforehand, that by the time they came, I really couldn't be bothered to take that much notice. Now I regret not watching more, and get caught up in the atmosphere, but at the time I'd just had enough of it.

I can understand some people need to plan a bit further ahead if they have cards and gifts to post overseas, but I'm sure even they don't need to buy boxes of cards in August! One thing that really annoys me about Christmas shopping is the way things like gift sets of toiletries and similar items are only available at that time of year. I've often wanted to buy something similar for a birthday present in the summer, and you just can't get anything suitable.

[floragord]

I think a month to 6 weeks is long enough to 'build up' to Christmas, any longer and I feel it loses that special feeling.

Memories are made of this! The recent discussion brought back the end of Christmas term celebrations at school with "dinner on the drive", a marquee was erected on the school drive so we could all have a meal together, followed by a carol service just before we went home for the holidays, funnily enough its what everyone always recollects with nostalgia at Old Girl reunions!

[Katharine]

I love school Nativity plays, and the local carol service, always puts me in a festive mood.

[floragord]

Always a great start to the festivities, it wouldn't be the same without - and the nip in the air! Years ago we spent the holiday in Tunisia, were taken to an olive oil farm, delightful as the experience was in the warm sunshine we had to agree it just wasn't like Christmas!

[Katharine]

I was in Florida in November one year, and all the shopping malls were full of 'holiday' merchandise. It was a very strange experience seeing Nativity cribs, and Christmas Trees while I was walking around in shorts and t-shirts, instead of wrapped up in scarves and gloves.

Still, it was nice to experience something different.

[floragord]

We've got several relatives in Australia who celebrate with Christmas lunch on the beach, wonder if the turkey is dished up cold, I've never thought to ask!

[Moonraker]

Lighten up Deej: there's got to be one event of a year which everyone looks forward to!

Well said, Poppy!

Yes, come on Mr Scrooge!

[MJE]

     I'd better be careful what I say on this thread, lest I sound like a Grinch or Scrooge - because I don't like Christmas - or at least a lot of the rigmarole it comes with. But some people in my family have abandoned the exchanging of gifts, which is (to me) the biggest headache of all, and I must say this does improve my feeling about it. I have nothing against gathering with the family, having a good meal, and the like - but the headache of worrying about gifts was just an expensive, time-consuming, stress-causing burden piled up on top of other concerns in life that I can never seem to catch up with anyway, without having an extra thing added that means nothing to me personally, but which you can feel socially obliged to do.

And by complete contrast I haven't seen a single thing about Halloween or Bonfire night yet and they are only a month away. :shock:

     Well, is Halloween very prominent in Britain anyway? I tend to think of it as largely an American thing, even if its origins were in Britain (which I understand they were). When I was growing up, Halloween seemed to be unheard of, although I gather it has gained some currency here now. I just hope tricking and treating doesn't become entrenched here.
     As for Bonfire Night, is that still around? Of course I recall it from books like "Secret Seven Fireworks", and it was very common here in Australia in the 1960s, although we called it Guy Fawkes Night, and I actually don't recall people tending to have an actual bonfire, nor a guy - so maybe the tradition became diluted in Australia - but certainly it was quite prominent at least in that people would set off fireworks. I think it was on 5 November, if I remember correctly. But not now - it is illegal to use fireworks in Australia now in an everyday situation like that. Is that so in Britain too nowadays?

Regards, Michael.

[MJE]

We've got several relatives in Australia who celebrate with Christmas lunch on the beach, wonder if the turkey is dished up cold, I've never thought to ask!

     We usually have the traditional roast, however hot the day might be. (And I fancy that is less and less often: I have got the feeling over many years that, although the climate here is not any less hot, the seasons are getting later and later, so December doesn't seem to be all that hot any more, whereas in my childhood, I remember it definitely starting to get hot.)
     As to the hot roast we have, I think people feel anything else is just not the same. I like roast dinner anyway, so I have no problems with that, and I seem to have less of a feeling than many people that certain foods are best at certain times of the year. If I like something, then I like it the same at any time of the year.

Regards, Michael.

[Anita Bensoussane]

...is Halloween very prominent in Britain anyway? I tend to think of it as largely an American thing, even if its origins were in Britain (which I understand they were). When I was growing up, Halloween seemed to be unheard of, although I gather it has gained some currency here now. I just hope tricking and treating doesn't become entrenched here.

Halloween wasn't a big thing when I was a child (I grew up in Wales so I don't know whether that made a difference) but it seems to have caught on since about the mid 1980s. You see a lot of Halloween costumes in the shops these days, and some children dress up and go from door to door saying, "Trick or treat?"

As for Bonfire Night, is that still around?

Bonfire Night is still very much around, with organised displays being popular (often held in parks, school grounds or on beaches) as well as families having bonfires and letting off fireworks in their gardens. Unfortunately fireworks go on sale quite early, so some irresponsible people let them off in the street long before Bonfire Night - and afterwards as well. Quite a few have landed in our garden, including one which hit and cracked the glass in the patio door, and people's cars have been damaged by them. It seems to have become the custom in recent years to let them off on New Year's Eve too. Personally I'd prefer to see fireworks confined to organised displays. Sometimes they have rides like carousels and swing-boats set up, and stalls selling toffee apples and other treats, so there's quite a festive atmosphere.

[Daisy]

As for Bonfire Night, is that still around?

Unfortunately fireworks go on sale quite early, so some irresponsible people let them off in the street long before Bonfire Night - and afterwards as well. Quite a few have landed in our garden, including one which hit and cracked the glass in the patio door, and people's cars have been damaged by them. It seems to have become the custom in recent years to let them off on New Year's Eve too. Personally I'd prefer to see fireworks confined to organised displays. Sometimes they have rides like carousels and swing-boats set up, and stalls selling toffee apples and other treats, so there's quite a festive atmosphere.

I was under the impression that fireworks were not to be let off except on the few days around Nov.5th and now, (since the turn of the century) at New Year too. Perhaps it's an urban myth that it's against the law? It is also against the law to sell fireworks to under 18s. (or is it?)

Well, is Halloween very prominent in Britain anyway? I tend to think of it as largely an American thing, even if its origins were in Britain (which I understand they were). When I was growing up, Halloween seemed to be unheard of, although I gather it has gained some currency here now. I just hope tricking and treating doesn't become entrenched here.

Unfortunately Halloween has gained in popularity in the last 20 years or so. Another opportunity for commercial gain! People even decorate their rooms with witches, horrible masks, broomsticks and the like which make a very macabre display and not very attractive at all.