Oxford's Christmas Light Festival sparks into life
Oxford’s festive season begins throughout the city this weekend.
This year’s Christmas Light Festival will take place from the 15th to the 17th November, Oxford City Council announces, including festive Christmas markets and sparkling lights displays.
The festival includes various events spanning across the town, from areas including Rose Hill and West Oxford, as well as the City Centre. The 2024 event is the latest instalment of this annual festival, and “has always marked the start of the festive season in Oxford”.
What events are there?
This year, attendees can look forward to a Victorian Christmas Market taking place all weekend on Broad Street – the market promises to deliver delicious festive food and drinks, street entertainment, and endless amounts of “joy and merriment” from its “enchanting atmosphere”.
There will also be a community party at ARK-T on Barns Road on Friday evening. Alternatively, Friday night also sees an evening of storytelling, hot chocolate and mulled wine at the Story Museum on Pembroke Street.
Younger Oxonians can have breakfast with Father Christmas at the Covered Market, where he’ll be spreading the Christmas cheer and helping attendees with their Christmas letters on Saturday morning.
In terms of Christmas lights, residents can take part in the Creative Lights Forest Festival on both Saturday and Sunday evenings, at the Rose Hill Community Centre, where various creative projects will be taking place, culminating in a very sparkly lantern parade around the area.
On Sunday evening at West Oxford Community Centre, the West Oxford Light Festival will take place, displaying all sorts of illuminated outfits and displays, as well as a lantern procession.
This is just a small selection of the festivities taking place this weekend, further details on the events can be found here.
Is it too early for Christmas?
Some may argue that it is too early for the Christmas season to begin, but what do the students of Oxford Brookes have to say?
Zoe Chadbone, 18, History and International Relations student, stated: “I love Christmas. I already listen to Christmas music, it’s kinda bad, but I still do. I think Christmas can be any time. I just like the festive aesthetic, and then I suppose the cosiness of it, it's so beautiful.”
Sena Cetin and Jes Takhar, both 20, Law students, agreed that it’s “never too early for Christmas!” Sena added that she thinks “Christmas markets should be open earlier than they are, because everyone goes home for Christmas, so no one really gets to enjoy everything going on in Oxford as students, so I think it should be a bit earlier.”
On the flip side, Zach Washington, 21, and Anthony Rhodes, 22, both Real Estate students, thought it was “a little bit too early”, with Anthony explaining that he “still feels very in the swing of autumn, look at the trees around you, it’s very autumny at the minute, it doesn’t feel like winter yet so for me it doesn’t feel like Christmas yet anyways.”
Regardless of whether or not it’s too early to start the festivities, Oxford is about to become much more merry, with the Christmas Lights Festival about to begin.