Neon Noel
In 2015 Eastbourne celebrates it's 700th year as a market town, and to mark the rather remarkable anniversary, Eastbourne's Chamber of Commerce has organised a spectacular 'Neon Noel' luminale light and audio show! The first of it's kind on the South Coast, the light and audio show will project the story and history of Eastbourne onto the Town Hall clock tower, located in Little Chelsea! Kicking off on Friday 4 December at 4.30pm during Little Christmas in Little Chelsea, the dazzling five minute light and audio show will be played at 4.30, 5.30 and 6.30pm every day from 4-13 December; this will be a truly magical and unique experience!
Talking of Little Chelsea, the annual street market celebration 'Little Christmas' in the quaint Little Chelsea area of Eastbourne, brings a host of entertainment, food and drink and market stalls for late night shopping! From 4pm on Friday 4 December, Grove Road and South Street, the heart of Little Chelsea, will bring the sounds and smells of Christmas to life! This year Little Chelsea has gone all out to create the most wonderful of events for people of all ages! Santa can be visited in his grotto, they'll be visits from Disney Princesses, Anna and Else, Cinderella and Belle, Morris dancers, funfair rides, carol singing and Oh ho ho, so much more!
Another brand new Christmas event for this year, Eastbourne's Bandstand will transform into a bustling outdoor Christmas market, reminiscent of traditional markets found in many European cities such as Cologne, Vienna and Brussels! From 9-13 December, the market will be open from 10am until 7pm, where shoppers can make many festive finds, perfect for gifts for loved ones. With festive food, mulled wine and lots more magic to be found at the Bandstand, there is no need to escape to the continent for the magic of a Christmas market! Don't forget about the Bandstand's traditional concerts, which are all free to attend and really bring people together on Christmas Day morning, Boxing Day morning and New Year's Day, to celebrate the season to be jolly!
Drusillas Park Winter Wonderland
The UK's best small zoo, Drusillas, switched on the lights to their own sparkling illumination light show earlier this month! A visit to the Winter Wonderland Illuminations, which has been a very popular attraction for many years, will make for an unforgettably magic experience for the family! A visit to Drusillas this Christmas would be incomplete without meeting and greeting Father Christmas in his cosy Christmas Cottage; for an additional £10, children can meet Father Christmas and receive a great little early Christmas gift. Find him there during weekends from 21 November and then daily from 12 until 23 December, before he must fly back to the North Pole to prepare for his epic journey across the world on Christmas Eve!
Don a Santa suit and burn some calories before the Christmas indulgence begins! The annual Myaware Santa Fun Run and Walk takes place on Sunday 6 December at 1.30pm! The three mile course sees participants pacing along the prom and ending up at Holywell Tea Chalet, to be rewarded with a hot drink and mince pie. Do you fancy taking part? You'll receive your very own Santa suit to wear whilst you run and keep afterwards and you'll help in raising awareness of and money for Myaware - a charity fighting against the Myasthenia Gravis neuromuscular disease! Don't miss out on this great chance to get into the Christmas spirit and help raise funds for a very good cause!
Coca-Cola Truck stops in Eastbourne
Holidays are coming, Holidays are coming... and so is the big red Coca-Cola Truck! The iconic truck, which has featured in Coca-Cola's famous seasonal adverts for years (2015 is the twentieth anniversary year of the adverts which are recognised around the world), is touring the country in December and Eastbourne was chosen as one of it's pit-stop destinations! You can visit the truck and take your picture next to it on Friday 18 December from 12-8pm, where it will be parked in the pedestrianised precinct of Terminus Road, just outside Debenhams!
Of course Christmas would be incomplete without laughter, song and dance in the form of a slapstick comedy pantomime! With a sprinkling of fairy dust, Peter Pan comes to the Devonshire Park Theatre in a panto debut! Eastbourne Theatres will tell the family favourite story of Peter Pan, the boy who never grew up, his little fairy friend Tinker Bell and the Darling children as they take to the skies and adventure in enchanting Neverland! From 11 December 2015 until 17 January 2016 a star-studded cast featuring Ewan Goddard as Peter Pan, Brian Capron as his nemesis Captain Hook, Martyn Knight as Mrs Smee and 'Britain's Got Talent' runners-up, Twist and Pulse, will present the most enchanting of pantomimes, which both adults and children will fall in love with!
There are many, many more Christmas events for you to discover this month, including after hours shopping at Towner Art Gallery, a plethora of yuletide theatre productions and more visits from Father Christmas! Head to the VisitEastbourne Christmas page to discover more!
Seasons Greetings and Happy Christmas!
