Are you one of the eager bunch to put your Christmas decorations up late November? Or one of those collected types who prepare for Christmas hours in advance? Manon Charles gives her take on how early is too early when it comes to Christmas.
I am a self-confessed Christmas lover, so for me it is never too early to start preparing for the festive season. As soon as Bonfire Night is out of the way, the Christmas songs come out and I have a festive spring in my step. However, for all the scrooges out there, how early is too early?
The universally agreed start date for Christmas is the 1st of December. This is when we open our advent calendars and Christmas songs start to play on the radio. However, for many, the Christmas season starts a little earlier.
Every year it seems as though the holidays come sooner and sooner (soon we will be celebrating in June!). These days it feels as though we are encouraged to start preparing for Christmas as soon as the academic year starts and 2014 was no different. This year, consumers were bombarded with festive products placed alongside Halloween decorations in many of the major retailers. Is this taking things too far? Although I am all for encouraging an organised approach to Christmas (ensuring no last minute, mad dash to the shops on Christmas Eve), shops that stock Christmas products before Halloween has even happened, are a bit too eager. Sometimes doing your Christmas shopping early is a good idea in order to get some good deals. It may be too late for this year, but as students, getting next year’s presents in the January sales is a brilliant way to save some money.
Another sign that Christmas is on the way is hearing Christmas songs play on a loop. In my opinion, it is never too early to start playing Christmas songs. However, for the grinches out there the first of the month is an acceptable time to start dancing along to all the classics. This year Radio 1 officially launched Christmas with the help of Olly Murs (with the genius tagline “Have a Merry ChristMurs”). This signified the start of Christmas season on Radio 1 with classics such as The Pogues, Fairytale of New York playing once or twice a day.
This year the Christmas lights in Canterbury were turned on November 20th. Although there were some complaints about the switching on of the lights over a month before Christmas, I believe this was the best time for them to be lit up. As the days get shorter and the nights get longer, it is very easy to be bogged down with the winter blues; and so the lights that line the high street bring some festive cheer to an otherwise gloomy time. Because after all Christmas is more than a month, it’s a season.