Why are Christmas events in the UK so lame?

[SaturdayGiraffe]

Location after location I read the reviews, some happy, most upset and cross about having spent so much money for variations on:

• mud
• disinterested staff
• cold hot chocolate
• overpriced food
• low quality food
• cheap decorations
• short light trails
• bad parking
• expensive
• sad reindeer
• grotty grottos

etc etc

It's all so depressing! Families are spending so much money on a couple of hours entertainment, and being fleeced. Do other countries do it better?

I don't think they're lame personally. I think we do Christmas very well. What sort of things do you enjoy doing?

Yes, other countries do it a lot better.

What are the events you are considering? I tend to agree with you: my friend went to the Kew Gardens thing and she said it was just hours trudging round in the mud and dark. I think they are sold to us in such an enticing way but the practical reality is often different.

You just have to choose wisely. The National Trust stuff, whilst on the expensive side, is generally good. Chatsworth House isn’t NT but they’ve previously done really nice Christmas Markets and other events.

I was in Cologne at Christmas and their Christmas market was identical to the one in my local town (both of which are fine but overpriced). I’m not sure this utopia of perfect Christmas experiences exists.

I don’t think they are. Sure some events are not up to the mark but many are, I’ve been to some lovely Christmas events over the years. We do Christmas very well.

Thing is with reviews you aren’t going to please everyone and yes it’s December so may have a bit of mud and it’s going to be cold because well it’s December. Attitude of the person going plays a big part, some are just miserable and would be not matter where they went.

It's true, you can find good things here if you pick wisely!

I don't know what to recommend, mind, as I no longer bother (my children are grown up).

Might do something more grown-up this year though.

Rip-off Britain. Councils overcharging. Licensing regulations...

Maybe because the organisers are jumping on a bandwagon with sole intent to fleece people of their cash, rather than considering the customer experience.

Manchester Christmas market is a shit-show. It didn't used to be. It had quality products and interesting things and nice food and drinks. Now, the products are hideous AliExpress tat, the bars and food and drink are overpriced and each bit is exactly the same. No variation, nothing actually fun and enjoyable.

Lincoln was even worse. Massive, virtually no facilities, poor quality products...the best bit was a church hall that was making the most of the increase in people and had cakes and hot drinks at normal prices.

And they haven't happened naturally. So there's no natural progression. They go straight from nothing to massive with no understanding of what people want or when or why. No testing the water. Just naked opportunism.

I didn't feel this in the past...

I hate big Christmas markets in England, they're just unpleasant and expensive.

OTOH, there are Christmas things we do really well.

Carol concerts. With a mince pie perhaps.
Carol singers in town squares.
Little fairs or markets in small towns and villages where the products have been locally made and produced.

Small scale is where it's at.

Not lame but stupidly expensive

Agree, we went to a local gardens to see their light display. It was pathetic, felt really bad as my mum had paid for us all to go - not cheap and we tried to make light of it. Kew we thought was lovely but the thought of booking in January to go the following Christmas puts me off. We now get cheap flights to a European town / City and join in their festivities which are lovely.

I think if you are in the countries that have these events as part of their long held local culture then it can be a totally different experience, because the event wasn't originally conceptualised purely as a commercial tourist attraction, but rather as a community based ritual. Eg the xmas markets in the smaller villages in Germany/austria/northern Italy are still predominantly attended by locals. You don't book tickets. Local artisans display their goods alongside people who have travelled from further afield, as has been the same for decades. The food is traditional Christmas fare for that region rather than trying to market itself as an 'experience' to pay through the nose for.

See also preseppes in Italy- some of the most magical xmas experiences but based on cultural history of the region rather than money making. Also local festive outdoor ice skating in places that traditionally have snow and frozen ponds, compared to commercial ice rinks shunted in and plugged into uk city centres.

But lots of the major euro city xmas markets become just mass market commercialised tat because it's lost the community basis. I would actively avoid xmas markets in cologne / munich etc.

Mmm, I sort of agree with you and sort of disagree with you. I think there ARE things that are great here - my children for example absolutely LOVE a trip into London to see the lights, maybe a trip to Hamleys, a bit of fun time on the South Bank. I think London does that brilliantly.

On the other hand, I couldn't agree with you more on Christmas markets. I see endless things that are either just tat, or might be nice hand made gifts etc, but not particularly interesting or Christmassy. And the food and drink at these markets is often, as you say, dire (although not always - I did have a really good raclette last year in Winchester!). Compared to some of the European markets - I've been to a few in Germany and Austria - it's really really disappointing. I am very keen to go back to Europe to replace, after many years, some of the gorgeous Christmas ornaments etc that I bought in the past as I've never seen anything similar here. BIL still has his lovely hand made wooden nativity scene that he bought 20 years ago and it's carefully brought out every year for display.

@MidasChoc Yes, that is exactly it.

How does anyone know if a reindeer is sad?!

I’ve been to some shit Christmas things abroad, to be fair.

Well, if they're not in a forest in Nordic country (or Canada), they probably will be sad!

If I was a reindeer, I wouldn't want to be in the UK at a tacky Christmas market.

The big Christmas markets are organised by massive companies that are only interested in making money. As long as people go to them and fork out, they’ll continue. I don’t go to the one in my city any more. I go to three different locally organised ones. Much better.

Depends what you like - I think we do Christmas well.

There are concerts, carol services, special crib services for families and children, after-dark light shows/events at NT and other historic sites, Christmas fairs and markets, pantomimes etc etc. Plus school events, of course.

Do you mean some of the terrible 'Winter Wonderland'-type things that get put on by dodgy people trying to make a fast buck? If so, yes - they are notoriously bad, but easy to avoid. Instead, my children used to love going to local garden centres which often do a fantastic Christmas display - and you can often find Father Christmas there. They loved looking at all the different trees etc and choosing a new decoration. You could also have tea there.

What more could you want?

I moved the the UK from Europe about 20 years ago and was shocked at local Christmas traditions (which seem to revolve largely around sitting at home and eating for three days). So yes, I would say other countries do it better. Christmas Eve is when we celebrate as a family and actual Christmas day is for being outside, enjoying what a city/town/village has to offer in terms of family activities. Nothing is closed and most activities are free - Christmas markets with music and mulled wine, medieval fairs, free church concerts etc.

I still remember leaving my flat on the first Christmas in the UK to find streets completely empty, public transport shut and nowhere except for a local convenience store to buy a loaf of bread.

Everything in the UK is lame

Absolutely this.

Our local town lights switch on is run by a small voluntary organisation, funded by the town council and the town's university. There is a small Christmas market with local producers, a stage with entertainment from local choirs, bands, and school choirs - sometimes the cast of the panto from the local theatre come in costume too. There's a Santa's grotto. There is a lantern parade and in the run up there is usually a treasure hunt in local shop windows.

All of it is free (apart from the produce at the market, obviously!)
Craft workshops to make lanterns for the parade - free
Treasure hunt entry - free
Santa's grotto with a token gift - free
Mulled wine and mince pies - free

People still moan about it though.

Quite easily if you’ve any understanding of farm/larger animals. 90% of reindeer most likely won’t be enjoying their Xmas activities, despite what those making money out of them might say.

I agree that most large scale Xmas markers etc are dreadful in this country. And they finish way before Xmas. Markets in Austria etc run right up to Xmas. Ours are just push selling crap. Same as our tv adverts. It starts too soon, ends too early and is all about sales.

if you’re lucky enough to live somewhere with more individual celebrations- brass bands etc, it’s much nicer. But generally speaking I think we’ve wrecked Xmas nowadays in the U.K.

I moved the the UK from Europe about 20 years ago and was shocked at local Christmas traditions (which seem to revolve largely around sitting at home and eating for three days).

TBF it's entirely understandable given the grim weather we have to contend with through most of the season! Nothing wrong with a bit of hygge at home...

(I moved here from Europe too)

A bright local journalist in Edinburgh calculated that metre for metre, the toddlers Santa Train was more expensive than the Orient Express.

A thread for the OP