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14 days of great Christmas events
Twelve days of Christmas? Try two whole weeks of festive things to do in London
December 25. It really creeps on you doesn't it? And there's not much time left to soak up those Christmassy vibes. Don't panic, because we've put together a whole 14 days of festive things to do over the holidays. Make the most of it with Christmas markets in London, ice rinks and Christmas lights. You'll be whistling Slade songs before you know it.
RECOMMENDED: Christmas in London
Two weeks of Christmas events
1. December 19: Unicef UK Christmas Carol Concert
Let Kirsty ‘Desert Island Discs’ Young cast you away with help from St Catharine’s Girls’ Choir and the St Paul’s Cathedral Consort, who’ll be performing choral classics beneath the beautiful dome. Jessie Ware, Eddie Izzard and Cat Deeley are all on the bill. Go on, tell Deeley you loved ‘SMTV Live’, you know you want to.
2. December 20: Welcome Cinema and Kitchen present: A Very Special Christmas Special!
You’ll get more than marmalade sandwiches at this supper club and screening of ‘Paddington 2’, where prizes and presents will be dished out. Tickets are free to refugees and asylum seekers.
3. December 21: Festive Vegan Deli
Thinking about going vegan in 2018? Ease yourself in by sampling some of the Fat Gay Vegan’s top picks of plant-based suppliers in the city. Feast throughout the day and share in the meat-free cheer. Tofurky isn’t so bad, promise.
Former Art Gallery, North Yard, Camden Market, NW1 8AH
4. December 25: Christmas Day swims
See a bunch of hardy Londoners freeze their bits off at the Peter Pan Cup swimming race in Hyde Park. You have to be a Serpentine Swimming Club member to take part (saving you from those sub-40F temps, and yourself). But you can still watch all the teeth-chattering divers from the sidelines. If you need to spend Christmas underwater, pre-book a swim at Brockwell Lido (9.30am-10.30am), or avoid the cold at Crouch End’s Park Road Pools & Fitness (9am-11am). Can’t bear to leave the house? Just hide in the bath instead. Christmas goals, they’re all relative.
5. December 27: ‘Love Actually’ Christmas Lights Tour
Channel Martine McCutcheon for a night and visit some of the sparkliest locations used in the Yuletide rom-com. The two-hour tour will be peppered with London’s best Christmas lights.
6. December 30: Christmas Past at the Geffrye
Get an eyeful of 1930s paisley upholstery and see how Brits set a Christmas table back in 1965 at the Geffrye. The ‘museum of the home’ is closing for two years in January, so make the most of the curtain-twitching while you can.
In London on Christmas Day?
Things to do on Christmas Day in London
Looking for something to do on the big day? Here's what's happening in London on December 25.