Stocking up on great ideas for the festive season
Get your plans in order with the help of the Country Living Magazine Christmas Fair, which promises to provide inspiration for food, drink, craft and gifting
Country Living Magazine Christmas Fair is back at the SEC, Glasgow from 21- 24 November. The annual celebration of all things festive is a must for anyone wanting to find everything for the perfect Christmas celebration under one roof.
Over 350 of the UK’S finest designers, makers and boutique businesses will gather together to offer gifts, decorations, crafts, food and drinks and inspired interior ideas, to help bring that Christmas sparkle to every home.
There will be everything from gorgeous garlands to beautiful baubles, scented candles and stylish cards as well as inspired interior ideas. This is also the ideal place to find a Christmas outfit with a stunning collection of evening and designer daywear available, as well as beautiful accessories including bags, purses and jewellery. There will be gifts galore for the kids including handmade traditional wooden and soft toys, chunky knitwear, cosy pyjamas, pretty party dresses, and hundreds of other treats.
There will be temptations of another kind with an exclusive collection of artisan food and drink producers giving visitors the chance to sample festive delicacies and the perfect day out wouldn’t be complete without a glass of fizz. The Viking Cruise Champagne Bar is a great place to relax with a glass of bubbly.
Watch. Learn. Try
There is plenty for visitors to learn and try at two informative theatre areas.
The Country Living Kitchen, sponsored by Stoves, will bring together some of the country’s finest food and drink producers. Join top chefs and cooking professionals as they prepare tempting seasonal festive dishes, using delicious, fresh ingredients.
Presenters will include Jasmine Mcdonagh of Scotia Spice, Lauren Shields, patisserie chef at Tennent’s Training Academy, Karon Grieve of Larder Love, Iain Pirrie of Edinburgh School of Food and Drink and Bob Mcdonald from Burren Balsamics while Anthony Gallant from Tennent’s Training Academy will present a Festival Cocktail Masterclass. Shelia Jones of Mrs Jones Cakes will also be running festive cake demonstrations and John Quigley from Red Onion returns with ideas for Christmas canapes. Paul Kelly’s turkey masterclass on Saturday and Sunday morning is not to be missed.
The Country Living Crafting Workshops will give visitors the chance to create something special to take home. There will be a varied daily hands-on programme from painting and gin tasting to block printing – workshop tutors will guide visitors as they create original items. Advance booking available.
Experts will guide visitors in sessions including How to Make a Christmas Wreath, Hand Dye a Christmas Napkin, Block Printing Christmas Stationery and a Gin Tasting Masterclass.
Tickets can be booked in advance, prices start from £8 each.
For further information or to book tickets call 0844 581 1385 or visit www.countrylivingfair. com
MEET OVER 350 EXHIBITORS INCLUDING...
Avva Scottish Gins Mumtrepreneur Jill Brown set up Moray Distillery Ltd in 2015. Jill had previous experience with a liqueur company and took the next step into distilling and launched her first gin, Avva, in 2016…a year before her first baby, Jessica arrived.
Gin experts have taken notice and Jill’s products have won a number of awards including a prestigious gold medal in this year’s International Wine & Spirits Competition (IWSC) for Avva Navy Strength Gin (57.2 per cent).
Avva Gin reflects Moray’s rich history in both culture and distilling. The name Avva, means respected grandmother and the brand features a label which draws influence from the iconic Elgin Cathedral.
It wasn’t until after Jill had launched Avva that she discovered she was making it with the first Scottish made gin still named Jessie Jean, a bespoke 250l copper still which was made by Speyside Copper Works, Elgin.
Jill and her team will be bringing their newly launched Avva Pink Scottish Gin, which showcases a delicate balance of strawberries and raspberries. They will also have a range of gift sets including a new 5cl trio pack containing the three core gins of Avva Scottish Gin, Navy Strength and Pink Gin. Cheers.
The Birlinn Yarn Company
Based on the Isle of Berneray in the Outer Hebrides, The Birlinn Yarn Company produces beautiful yarn from pedigree Hebridean sheep.
Meg Rodger started The Birlinn Yarn Company in 2015, following a couple of years trialling small batches of yarn.
Meg says, “This showed me that there was an opportunity to value the wool produced from our expanding flock of Hebridean sheep, for its purity in source and artisanal qualities.
“As the business has grown, we now buy fleece from several crofters within the Outer Hebrides who share the same values in animal husbandry and sustainability. By working with them, we are supporting the traditional Hebridean crofting way of life that has existed in these islands for generations.
“People buying our yarn and products appreciate that we are small-scale, care for
our sheep and our fragile island ecology. We are now developing our product range, taking inspiration from the Norse and Hebridean heritage of the islands and our sheep, combined with a contemporary twist.
“Our island environment, culture, community and simple way of life are very important to us as a family. Values that we hope we can share with you through our products.” www.birlinnyarn.co.uk
Isabel Haines
Many will remember having their first or even their father’s classic folding Opinel pen knives.
Isabel Haines has a passion for traditional brands fostered over a lifetime and especially growing up in rural France. Since 2011, Isabel, who is based in Surrey, has offered a stable of sustainably made lasting homewares and is making her debut in Scotland at The Country Living Magazine Christmas Fair.
Isabel’s unique range of family owned brands include:
Durance traditionally made soaps, handcrafted candles and home fragrances, men’s and women’s scent. Mostly grown within a few miles of the family’s factory in Provence they proudly showcase their passion for their heritage in ecologically and beautifully manufactured products.
Opinel manufacture top quality steel kitchen and folding craft knives and garden tools. Affordable and practical, they have made the same design classics in the same factory in the French Alps for over 125 years.
Berard olive and beech wood boards, kitchenware and salt cellars are renowned for their super thin olivewood boards and swivel top salt cellars – often mimicked but nothing beats the original. The firm was established in France in 1892 .
She has Kaweco pens and pencils made in Germany since 1883 and Redecker brushes from Germany. This family have been making wooden household brushes for three generations – everything from feather dusters, nail and bath brushes, to floor scrubbers, goat hair dusters and clothes and hair brushes. www.isabelhaines.com