Wholesale growers expect to increase tree costs between 5% and 15% as research suggests artificial trees gaining popularity
For millions across the country, a Christmas tree is an essential part of the holiday season.
And every year comes the debate – an artificial tree or a real one?
Continue reading...West Bank city gears up for festive season after two years of pandemic restrictions
There’s once again no room at the inn in Bethlehem as the Palestinian city gears up for its first Christmas season after two years of pandemic restrictions.
During the week of Christmas this year, 120,000 tourists and pilgrims from all over the world are expected to visit the occupied West Bank town, home to the Byzantine Church of the Nativity, which stands on the spot where it is believed Jesus was born. The predicted numbers for 2022 are almost on a par with 2019, when Bethlehem saw an all-time high of 150,000 visitors in the same time period, and 3 million visitors overall.
Continue reading...League of Gentlemen star’s two programmes are part of a rich seam of shows about the supernatural this year
This year’s Christmas TV and radio schedules feature more spooky and supernatural content than before the pandemic, reflecting a hunger for answers during uncertain times or grief for loved ones.
That’s according to Sherlock and League of Gentlemen writer and actor Mark Gatiss, who will be appearing in two ghostly programmes over the Christmas period.
Continue reading...Critics accuse authorities of ‘bogus environmentalism’ over installation in historic Piazza Venezia
A row has broken out over two “ugly” solar panels intended to power the lights on Rome’s traditional Christmas tree.
There is always much anticipation in the Italian capital when the fir arrives at the Piazza Venezia in the historic centre – a Unesco world heritage site – with many giving their view on the choice of decoration.
Continue reading...Cities are trying hard to keep the festive spirit amid the cost of living crisis and war in Ukraine
European Christmas markets and illuminations are scaling back due to the energy crisis and climate breakdown – ditching seasonal ice rinks for rollerskating and switching on lights for less time.
When the traditional end-of-year markets and Christmas lights launch in France and Germany this week, in many cities such as Paris they will go dark hours earlier than usual.
Continue reading...Waitrose’s No 1 Brown Butter pies wowed with their ‘buttery aroma’, while Aldi’s, at half the price, scored just one point less
Tucking into a mince pie is usually the first sign Christmas is on the way and with budgets under pressure this year getting your fix doesn’t have to break the bank, with a 29p pie from Aldi coming a close second to Waitrose’s brown butter pastry in a taste test.
The upmarket supermarket’s No 1 Brown Butter Mince Pies came top in a “rigorous” blind taste test conducted by Which?. They wowed the panel of baking experts with their “buttery aroma” and “citrussy aftertaste” to achieve the top score of 74%, earning the consumer group’s coveted “best buy” badge of approval.
Continue reading...Airport vows passengers will not face daily cap during biggest festive getaway in three years
Heathrow airport has said it is prepared for the biggest Christmas getaway in three years and promised that passengers will not have to face a return of the daily cap that was introduced as summer holiday travel descended into chaos.
Europe’s busiest airport, which said last month that on the busiest travel days over the festive period travellers may have to fly outside peak times to manage the festive rush, said it was working on contingency plans for potential strike action over the period.
Continue reading...Survey shows more than 60% of UK parents will be spending less this year on gifts for children, as charity begins #JustOneBook drive to give disadvantaged youngsters book parcels
More than 60% of parents in the UK will be spending less this year on Christmas presents for their children, a survey by BookTrust has found, as it launches its Christmas appeal to provide young people with books.
The survey found that 59% of parents who celebrate Christmas have cut back on spending ahead of the festive season so they can afford to buy gifts for their children, but 62% still say they’ll be spending less than they usually do.
Continue reading...Toy Retailers Association selects likely ‘must-haves’ for British market with eye on strained budgets
An interactive guinea pig which has babies and a “booty shaking” disco giraffe are predicted to be among the bestselling toys this Christmas as retailers battle for custom with toy ranges tailored to suit “every budget”.
With the cost of living crisis looming large, the DreamToys list drawn up by the Toy Retailers Association (TRA), features a selection of cheaper toys this year, with eight of the top 12 under £35. The cheapest item on the list is an £8 Squishmallow, a cuddly toy expected to be a popular stocking filler.
Barbie Cutie reveal doll £33
Gabby’s Purrfect Dollhouse £80
Goo Jit Zu figurine £11
GiGi the Giraffe £28
Mama Surprise £65
Magic Mixies Mixlings Magic Castle £30
Paw Patrol Big Truck Pups vehicle £18
Pokémon Elite Trainer set £42.50
Rainbow High fashion doll £32
Sink N’ Sand game £20
Original 7.5in Squishmallows £8
Lego Star Wars Hoth AT-ST £45
Continue reading...Move away from traditional date of 7 January directed against pro-Putin head of Russian Orthodox church
For centuries Ukrainians have celebrated Christmas on 7 January, the date on which Jesus was born, according to the Julian calendar.
But following Vladimir Putin’s invasion in February, the Orthodox church of Ukraine is allowing its congregations for the first time to celebrate Christmas on 25 December, in a move away from Russia and towards the west.
Continue reading...Move comes 16 years after collapse of Christmas savings club Farepak, which left thousands unable to access cash
New laws are to be announced this week aimed at protecting the hundreds of thousands of Britons who use savings clubs to put money aside for Christmas or pay for other items in advance.
The government said it would also look at whether there were other sectors posing risks to people who prepay for goods or services, and whether similar protections were needed. Home improvements and weddings are two examples of big-ticket items where people frequently hand over substantial sums in advance.
Continue reading...Jared Schmeck, 35, tells Oregonian he has ‘nothing against’ president to whom he repeated ‘Fuck Joe Biden’ rightwing meme
The caller who ended a conversation with Joe Biden with the rightwing meme “Let’s go Brandon” – which means “fuck Joe Biden” – has insisted he was joking and meant no disrespect to the president.
“At the end of the day I have nothing against Mr Biden,” Jared Schmeck, 35, told the Oregonian newspaper. “But I am frustrated because I think he can be doing a better job. I mean no disrespect to him.”
Continue reading...Archbishop of Canterbury says pandemic has shown our capacity for compassion and generosity
Everyone in society, from Cabinet ministers to rough sleepers, has faced “uncertainty, uncontrollability and unpredictability” during the Covid pandemic, the archbishop of Canterbury has said in his Christmas sermon.
Justin Welby, who led the Christmas Day service at Canterbury Cathedral, added that the past 22 months has also shown people’s capacity for compassion and generosity.
Continue reading...The saying has became an internet sensation as a coded vulgarity among Trump supporters
A vulgar anti-Biden slogan made for an awkward moment on Friday during Joe Biden’s phone calls with children tracking Santa’s flight when a father said, “Let’s Go Brandon.”
The refrain, a sanitized version of “Fuck Joe Biden,” has been an internet sensation since a television journalist told race car driver Brandon Brown that a Nascar crowd shouting the vulgarity was actually saying, “Let’s go Brandon.”
Continue reading...Photograph of TV address released by palace shows Queen sitting next to a portrait of her and Prince Philip
The Queen’s Christmas Day message is expected to be a particularly personal one this year, her first since the death of the Duke of Edinburgh.
A photograph released by Buckingham Palace ahead of her televised address shows the Queen sitting behind a desk in the White Drawing Room at Windsor Castle, accompanied by a single, framed picture of the couple taken in 2007 at Broadlands country house, Hampshire, to mark their diamond wedding anniversary.
Continue reading...Every year this hilltop community becomes Christmas Village, a rustic, artisanal festive wonderland attracting visitors from far and wide
José Galvão does not look much like an elf. At 79, he has the weather-burned face and strong labourer’s hands of a man born in the mountains of central Portugal. Yet, for months he’s been beavering away behind the scenes to bring to life what must be one of the world’s friendliest and least showy Christmas celebrations.
Every Christmas for the past eight years, the 170 or so residents of Cabeça in the Serra de Estrela mountain range transform their remote village into a rustic winter wonderland. The idea sprang from a competition run in 2013 by the local council, but has since taken on a life of its own, attracting a growing flow of visitors from across Portugal every year.
Sitting just off the central plaza with some of his old-boy friends, José breaks off his chinwag to show me the three-inch folding knife in his pocket. “I’m no expert, but I do a bit of carving,” he chortles through a gap-toothed smile. “We’ve all got to muck in, certo? Cabeça is the Christmas Village after all.”
He is right on every count. Following his directions, I walk 100 metres or so down one of Cabeça’s narrow streets. Pop-up stores and market stalls line the route, which is busy with Portuguese day-trippers on the hunt for festive fun.
I briefly stop at Loripão, a bakery from the next-door village, which has rented a villager’s front room for the fortnight’s celebrations. It’s a paradise of all things sweet and sugary, and its biggest seller by far is the bolo rei (king cake) – the rounded sugary bread topped with crystalised fruits that adorns every Portuguese sideboard at Christmas.
Outside, decoration are strung between the square granite houses that characterise the local architecture. Everything is homemade, from the heart-shaped frames swaddled in ferns to the moss-covered stars studded with red berries.
We had been looking forward to watching unlimited television, but the set was on the blink. Then came a knock at the door …
On Christmas Eve, a cheque arrived from our father so that our mother could get presents. She laughed bitterly and ripped it up.
“But what will we thank him for?” cried my sister.
Continue reading...For the past few weeks, I’ve been getting ready for Christmas. As well as putting the tree up ridiculously early, I’ve made the cake, bought the presents and assembled the stockings. Even though my children no longer believe in Santa, the crinkle of my dad’s old golf socks stuffed full of presents on Christmas morning still makes their faces light up.
But this year, for the first time since they were born, I won’t be there to celebrate with them. I’m leaving my husband Fred, daughter Inès, 15, and son Vincent, 12, to row 3,000 miles across the Atlantic as part of the annual Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge. My four-woman crew of mothers is called the Mothership, and between us we have 11 children, the youngest of whom is four.
Continue reading...Omicron cases are soaring, experts want curbs and Boris Johnson is dithering. Sound familiar?
That old adage of Marx insists that historical events occur first as tragedy, then as farce. The government’s handling of the pandemic in the UK long ago undermined that progression: tragedy and farce have, since the very beginning of the crisis, always been a double act.
The clashing tone of current events feels like a dispiriting festive repeat of all-too-familiar dramas. A week that began with the exposed scandal of Downing Street lockdown parties, and ended with chief civil servant Simon Case stepping down as investigator of those scandals, because of a party in his own office, was also yet another week in which the alarming progress of the virus outpaced government rhetoric and claimed another thousand lives.
Continue reading...It was the last week of my junior high school, so probably June 1974. After the summer I would be heading to senior school. The last week was pretty relaxed and one of our science teachers suggested we bring in board games and the like, since there was no actual teaching to be done.
Continue reading...