10 of the best
Your guide to events you must not miss this week
1 Beverley Festival of Christmas
Sunday Traditional Victorian markets at Saturday Market, Wednesday Market and North Bar Within, with seasonal cheer at Flemingate Centre – including the Nordic Tipi Bar with its roaring fire. Reindeer will guide Santa and his sleigh at 10am from Wednesday Market to Saturday Market. Visitors can meet Santa and get a picture. More than 120 Victorian market stalls will be offering food and drink – and, of course, stocking fillers. Families can also look forward to face painting, traditional Victorian fairground rides, live music, dance, birds of prey and a snow globe at Flemingate Centre. Panto stars from Bridlington Spa’s Jack and the Beanstalk – including Star Trek actor Marina Sirtis – will add further festive fun. Free with some charges for rides and other activities. www. beverleyfestivalofchristmas. co.uk
2 Christmas Craft and Food Fair
Sledmere House, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, 9.30am-4pm. More than 100 stalls offering the best selection of local produce from around Yorkshire including wine, sweets, homemade treats, festive decorations, gifts and crafts. Admission charges apply www.sledmerehouse.com
3 Creative Crescent and Woodend Open Studios
The Crescent, Scarborough, on Saturday and Sunday, daily from 10am to 4pm Resident artists at Woodend open their doors and present an array of art so you can see and buy their work at one-off prices and find some original gifts. Angela Chalmers’ cyanotypes, also known as ‘blueprints’; Ruth Collett ceramic work is based on the Wolds fields, bees and beehives and textured pieces using recycled plastic packaging; Lindsey Tyson combines felt and print on fabric to create tactile, and unique home accessories inspired by nature; Wendy Belshaw works mainly in oils and encaustic wax to create her paintings. She also makes unique jewellery and seasonal craft pieces.
Tony Belshaw works in various mediums and has been creating artwork from sea themed, locally sourced and sea-washed pottery. Carolyn Letten is a textile artist taking inspiration from the coast and moors that surround her. Free entry www. woodendcreative. co.uk
4 Victorian Weekend at Robin Hood’s Bay
Friday, Saturday and Sunday This event gives all visitors and residents the opportunity to dress up in traditional Victorian costume. Santa, wellythrowing on the beach, Victorian games, a Christmas card competition, a costume competition, a Sheep Hunt, talks about the Dickensian era and smuggling are just some of the highlights. There’ll also be music in the streets, in the pubs, in churches and a variety concert and a pie and pea supper. As well as art exhibitions and old crafts, you can visit period cottages and discover Robin Hood’s Bay on a guided walk, learn about St Hilda’s snakes and sea monsters, follow your duck in the annual RNLI Duck Race and marvel at the beauty and ingenuity of all the Christmas trees in St Stephen’s Church.Carollers, hand-bell ringers, lucky dips, tombolas, draws, spinning demonstrations, ganseys and, of course, mince pies. Free entry
5 Great North Christmas Festival
Various venues, December Festival On The Moor’s event kicks off with the Wassail at Joan Of Arc Hall, Botton, on Friday December 14.
The Festival show at Botton will combine seasonal songs with the music of fiddle and accordion duo Christine Williamson and Carole Millward, better known as Blind Panic. They wil be joined by singers Richard Grainger, Chris Milner, Beth Burrows, Maggie Gee, Steve Dawes, Margaret and Tony Maughan, Dor Fountain, Paul Lucas and Alan Young. Seasonal food and drink, and a hearty supper at the festival bar with a raffle.
The music kicks off at 5pm in the foyer bar. Wassail will start at 7.30pm. This is a pay what you want event and is open to all. For a more intimate event, the Wassail takes place at Sanders Yard Bistro, Whitby, on Wednesday December 19 with sounds of the season and scrumptious food. Tickets are limited and are priced at £13 to include a festive supper. Available from the Bistro and the festival’s website: www.festivalonthemoor.co.uk 6 Christmas at Nunnington Hall December 8, 9, 15 and 16, from 10.15am to 2pm. Discover the Hall as it would have been at Christmas through history, from the Georgian era to the war years and after. Admission charges apply. www.nationaltrust.org.uk/ nunnington-hall 7 Festive Fun at Rotunda Museum, Scarborough December 9, 16 and 23 from 10am to 4pm. Explore and create with us in the run up to Christmas! Join the museum team for a varied programme of festive fun for the whole family and explore the unique collections.
Free with annual pass www.scarboroughmuseums trust.com/rotunda-museum 8 Christmas Tree Exhibition St Mary’s Parish Church, Whitby, to January 6 This is a free event but donations welcome. Closed after the service on Christmas Day.Please note that the exhibition may be closed when services are taking place. For opening times please visit www.discoveryorkshirecoast. com/Whitby-Christmas-TreeExhibition-2018 9 Christmas at Burton Agnes Hall, near Bridlington Until Sunday December 23 Join Father Christmas and Jingles the Magic Elf for a magical performance. The Cunliffe-Lister family gather natural products from the Hall’s award-winning gardens and estate to create original decorations.
A huge Christmas tree from the estate’s forestland will dominate the Great Hall. Original Elizabethan and Jacobean quarters will be decorated in traditional style while the Long Gallery will have a contemporary Christmas mood to complement its collection of modern and impressionist art. In the courtyard, the Home and Garden Shop and Gift Shop will stock Christmas presents and the Christmas Shop is a whole shop dedicated to Christmas and the the café will serve a seasonal menu. Admission charges apply. www.burtonagnes.com 10 Yorkshire’s Winter Wonderland. MacArthur Glen Designer Outlet, York Perfect family day out with the Ice Factor open until January 6. www.yorkshirewinter wonderland.com