Christmas at Kew returns for 10th year

The UK’s original festive light trail returns to dazzle London's Kew Gardens, bringing magical new installations for the tenth anniversary this Christmas. 

From Wednesday 16 November 2022 to Sunday 8 January 2023 (advance booking only, tickets are selling fast, so book as soon as you can!)

2022 marks ten years of Christmas at Kew, the first light trail of its kind in the entire UK.

New installations include suspended illuminations and optical illusions, featuring over a million twinkling lights along a 2.7km trail.

Highlights include the iconic Palm House projections, Starry Night featuring thousands of twinkling lights, and ‘Illusion Hole’ by UxU Studio.

Visitors can indulge in toasty treats with delicious seasonal street food, mulled wine and hot chocolate, or a Christmas dinner at The Botanical Brasserie.

This November, see Kew Gardens in a whole new light as the UNESCO World Heritage landscape glitters with millions of festive lights with the return of Christmas at Kew.

Since the inaugural Christmas trail in 2013, this unique, world-famous event has paved the way for festive displays across the country each winter, cementing light trails as a firm festive favourite in the run up to Christmas. 

Marking ten years since the original festive trail at Kew Gardens, this year’s display features a host of seasonal favourites alongside mesmerizing new light installations. 

Planning begins more than a year in advance, to ensure this celebration of nature by night brings Kew’s incredible natural landscape to life for visitors of all ages.

New installations for 2022

Taking inspiration from Kew’s horticultural collection and the changing seasons, creative studio NOVAK return to Kew with an immersive animation projected onto Holly Walk. Elsewhere, visitors can wander through thousands of twinkling lights in ArtAV’s magical Starry Night, featured at Kew Gardens for the first time. 

Fun and magical, 16 floating UV feathers by Pyrite Creative appear as if from nowhere amongst the trees, while elsewhere in the canopies, LuminARTi’s Willow Hives elegantly illuminate the surrounding natural forms, highlighting the spectacular scenery at Kew.

Light Art Collection returns with ‘Illusion Hole’ by UxU Studio, a geometrically arranged pattern situated on the Lake in which visitors will experience the fluidity and malleability of moving light. Visitors are presented with a thrilling optical illusion as water formed by light appears to flow into an unknown abyss as they enjoy the trail around the gardens.

Festive favourites

Wander beneath colourful canopies and bushes draped in sparkle, futuristic neon trees and branches illuminated with stars as you enter a botanical world filled with seasonal cheer. Many of Kew’s 12,000 trees and other botanical treasures from Kew’s living collection will be accentuated along the new route, allowing visitors to experience nature from a new perspective whilst reinforcing the essential role that plants play in all of our lives.

Creative studio Pitaya return to Christmas at Kew, lighting up the woodland with their ethereal installation ‘Floraison’, luminous poppies appear to have blown away in the breeze, clinging to branches high above visitors’ heads. Elsewhere, the ever-popular Fire Garden returns for 2022, and Kew’s famous Christmas Cathedral will once again create a dazzling world filled with thousands of fairy lights, offering the perfect Instagram opportunity. Visitors will be entranced as a series of breath-taking projections dance across the surface of Kew’s iconic Palm House and adjacent lake, set to a memorable soundtrack of much-loved Christmas classics.

To add an extra touch of magic to the Christmas at Kew experience, visitors can book a delicious traditional Christmas dinner at The Botanical Brasserie to enjoy with loved ones. Tasty treats from a selection of independent street food vendors are also available along the route, including spiced cider, waffles, mulled wine, or hot chocolate to keep you comfortably warm.

Says Sandra Botterell, Director of Marketing and Commercial Enterprise at Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew: “Christmas at Kew is always magical, but this year it is even more special as we celebrate ten years of this wonderful light trail. 

"We can’t wait to welcome our visitors back to the Gardens to experience the return of our much-loved light installations, alongside exciting new additions, all of which take inspiration from Kew’s incredible collections. As the first festive light trail of its kind, Christmas at Kew really is a seasonal spectacular unlike any other.”

Wakehurst, Kew’s wild botanic garden in Sussex, sees the return of its own enchanting winter lantern trail for 2022. Glow Wild promises a brand-new route, with 11 bespoke installations and over 1000 paper lanterns handmade by local volunteers all celebrating the incredible colour spectrum of the natural world.

Visit https://www.kew.org/kew-gardens/whats-on/christmas.

Love is in the air with the ultimate Christmas gift ideas

Yes, Love is truly in the air with the ultimate Christmas gift ideas for couples from experience day company WonderDays. 

From romantic short breaks to foodie experiences for two and spa days to making your own wedding rings, there is no shortage of gifts for couples to inspire you this Christmas.

In their latest Christmas gift guide, WonderDays has focused on those times when it really does take two.

Bronwen Jones, who is the company's head of social marketing, said Christmas gifts for couples can be all the more memorable when it’s something they can experience together.

"Making amazing memories and experiencing something together is, for us, one of the bests gifts you can give at Christmas," she pointed out.

"For the team here, our favourite times and most memorable Christmas moments are those we spent time with each other.

"Christmas is all about spending time with those whom you love most and for us, gifting an experience day the two of you can enjoy together further down the line is the perfect couple's present."

For more festive inspiration for two, read the WonderDays full Christmas Gift Guide For Couples on their website.

WonderDays launched earlier this year to offer a more flexible and easier way to purchase and enjoy gift experience days across the UK.

https://www.wonderdays.co.uk/experience-gift-ideas.

The Wise Men Who Found Christmas reveals the True Story of the Christmas Magi

Based on new, fresh research, this new book by New York Times bestselling author Raymond Arroyo is positioned to become atop seller at Amazon and Barnes & Noble this Christmas.

"The Wise Men Who Found Christmas" by New York Times bestselling author and award-winning broadcast journalist Raymond Arroyo is an exciting visual adventure which truly captures the joy of the Christmas season and sharing the long-hidden story of the mysterious Magi, who risked everything to discover the truth. 

Based on new historical evidence, "The Wise Men Who Found Christmas" is an all-new telling of three adventurous seekers who followed a star, and found themselves in the middle of the greatest story ever told. 

Actor Jim Caviezel (Person of Interest, The Passion of the Christ) said: "This beautiful and moving book shines like the Christmas star. Raymond Arroyo reveals the true and inspiring adventure of the Magi, who bravely followed the light given them and found a treasure beyond imagining. This is a journey you and your family would be wise to take, too!"

One of the most highly-anticipated seasonal offerings, "The Wise Men Who Found Christmas" is an exquisite picture book available now. It is a prequel to Arroyo's bestselling, "The Spider Who Saved Christmas."

"The story of the Three Wise Men is one of the most beloved and meaningful parts of the nativity story. Now, in this beautiful book, Raymond Arroyo is sharing the true Magi story with everyone. It will surely inspire all readers to adopt the lessons and traditions of Three Kings Day and keep the Christmas spirit alive for all 12 days of Christmas," said Rachel Campos Duffy, New York Times Bestselling Author, Fox & Friends Weekend Co-host.

Stunningly illustrated by Diane Le Feyer, this enchanting family keepsake is part of Arroyo's larger "Legend Series" of self-contained, episodic stories.

https://www.amazon.com/Wise-Men-Who-Found-Christmas/dp/1644136201.

Diwali 2022 Charity eCards released

Water poverty alleviation charity, Hope Spring has announced the launch of its annual Diwali eCard range. 

The charity which is based in Hereford, made the announcement on Twitter, today Tuesday the 11th of October. The organisation works with communities in developing countries to access clean drinking water.

The Diwali eCard was refreshed especially for 2022. Their new range includes over a dozen ecards and half a dozen video ecards. In the press release making the announcement, eCard platform manager Mr Abdulwasiu Abdulraheem said “Diwali eCards is one of our greeting cards range I love working on, for a start I love the title of Diwali; festival of light”. 

He went on to say: “This year we added a few more ecards and video eCards to our range to give us an improved range of Diwali eCards”.

Compared with last year, people sending Diwali greeting cards on Hope Spring eCard platform will be able to add detailed personalisation, besides sharing their eCard with friends and family via WhatsApp. Recipients can also reply to this year eCard via email, too.

Sending a diwali ecard on Hope Spring is as easy and quick as choosing an ecard from the range of diwali ecards catalogue, personalising it, making a donation and clicking send, and your ecard will arrive instantly. 

The ecard scheduling on the charity ecard platform also allows senders to schedule ecard ahead of time. While drawing attention to this feature, Mr Abduraheem said “those that have busy schedules can take advantage of our ecard scheduler.

This is quite handy. By scheduling a diwali ecard before diwali day, you sufficiently reduce the probability of forgetting to wish your friends and colleagues to zero.”

You can learn more about Hope Spring eCars, their work in water poverty alleviation by following them on their social media page or visiting their website https://www.hopespring.org.uk.

Although this is not a Christmas-related story, That's Christmas decided that we wanted to share it as helping provide the world's people with clean water is a good idea.

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Buy works of art for Christmas. Catching Moments in History on Canvas

The following That's Christmas post is provided by artist Peter Brown (aka Pete the Street).

There’s a long history of artists documenting important historical events, capturing on canvas important moments in time across the centuries. The resulting paintings hang in galleries around the world, providing us with portals to the past.

Bath-based artist Peter Brown (a.k.a. Pete the Street) is determined to keep the tradition alive, believing that a painting offers a unique perspective that a quick snap posted on Instagram can’t compete with.

Most recently, Peter documented the ten days following the Queen’s death.

“I was walking the dog in Bath in the early morning of 9th September, the day after the Queen died, and it suddenly occurred to me I should be painting Buckingham Palace, so I headed quickly home and jumped into the van.

“I completed five paintings of the public’s reaction to the proceedings over the following ten days up until the funeral – the crowds outside the palace, along the procession routes and in the royal parks. And then there was David Beckham in the legendary queue along the Thames.”

The spectacle of royal pageantry is appealing to Peter, having previously painted the flotilla at the Queen’s diamond jubilee in 2012, the sea of red poppies at the Tower of London, and more recently, local celebrations for the Platinum Jubilee earlier this year.

But it’s not all pageantry and patisseries, Peter also captures the nitty-gritty of everyday life in his work. Many of his paintings from the past few years tell the story of towns and cities and their people during the COVID pandemic. From the empty streets of Bristol (St Michael’s Hill and The Neptune Statue) and the closed West End theatres in London, painted as the first lockdown started to ease, through to bustling scenes of cafes and restaurants in Bath as people started to venture out for an overpriced coffee once again

His new exhibition ‘Bath, Bristol and Beyond’ includes two paintings of the ‘Multi’, a car park in Bath that is currently being demolished, and past scenes have included the aftermath of the Tottenham riots. Peter also attends Glastonbury Festival every year (pandemic permitting) to capture the energy, atmosphere and colour of the event.

And, of course, Peter captures moments from everyday life. Shopping streets, seaside scenes, commuters, park life, allotment holders, dog walkers and family scenes at home. He paints from life. In all seasons, and in all weathers. Even during snowstorms when he works outside wearing fingerless mittens.

Peter Brown’s new solo exhibition 'Bath, Bristol and Beyond' opens on 22 October 2022 at the Victoria Art Gallery in Bath, continuing until 15 January 2023.

The exhibition features over 100 new oil paintings by Peter and will also be available to view online from 15 October at https://www.victoriagal.org.uk/event/peter-brown-bath-bristol-and-beyond.

Peter will be at the gallery all day for a meet and greet on Saturday 22 October, with an artist talk at 11am.

The paintings, which will make absolutely wonderful Christmas presents, will be for sale.

The 12 Days of Discovery. Coffee Advent Calendar from Chimney Fire Coffee

Containing 12 bags of 70g coffee (either whole bean, or pre-ground) with a booklet, information and map. 

Chimney Fire's Coffee have launched their 12 Days of Discovery Advent Calendar is a specially curated collection of coffees from their 2022 Discovery Coffee range. 

Each coffee has been carefully selected by their roastery team to satisfy different tastes, and introduce a new and interesting coffee from around the world - be that a new origin or region, a new process or varietal, or something seasonal with a unique flavour profile; The unique sleeve illustration was created by Sïan Angharad, celebrating the contribution of each team member to their operation, with a Christmassy twist!

From Malawi to India, every coffee drinker will be sure to find something new and exciting this festive season to suit their tastes.

Available at ChimneyFireCoffee.com from early next month, November 2022. 

Chimney Fire Coffee is a speciality coffee roastery that's nestled comfortably in the Surrey Hills. They produce and supply ethical coffee products and subscriptions for both home consumers, and business customers (including end-to-end service, coffee beans, machinery, barista training, and corporate experiences, too). 

Their coffee range includes eight mainstay coffees, a rolling monthly 'Discovery Coffee' (where each month they introduce a new and interesting coffee from around the world), and most recently their Peru Classic Espresso Nespresso® compatible compostable coffee pods. 

They also offer coffee immersion tours at their roastery and run off-site coffee experiences, collaborate with talented local brands and makers and create new products including cycle jerseys, coffee-chocolate and coffee candles. Their recent launch, with Silent Pool Distillery, is the incredible Espresso Martini. 

They work hard to bring their customers coffee to suit every taste that supports ethical and eco-friendly practices, all the way from farm to cup.

Chimney Fire Coffee is all about sustainability from the ground up with direct and transparent sourcing, 100% compostable packaging and delivering social impact through donations to Re-Cycle, a small charity who refurbish bikes in the UK and send them to rural communities in Africa. They're also an Accredited Living Wage employer and are B Corp Certified, demonstrating standards of social and environmental performance, transparency and accountability.  

To learn more and to place your orders please visit them at https://chimneyfirecoffee.com.

That's Christmas would like to thank Amanda Bootes for helping with this.