Our round-up of some of the best festive fodder including markets, fairs and carol concerts
Shopping
To find prezzies with an individual feel or just some tasty treats, head out to a Christmas fair near you. In Glasgow, there’s the St Enoch Square annual market (from 20 Nov) and Country Living Magazine’s Christmas Fair, with homemade food and drink from 200 exhibitors (SECC, 17–20 Nov, 10am, £9.50). Queen’s Park Church will have stalls and a festive tearoom at its community fair (26 Nov, 11.30am, 50p) whilst the nearby Church on the Hill offers a Winter Wine Fair in December (4 Dec, 2pm, £10).
Edinburgh will have its traditional German Christmas Market at the Mound Precinct (24 Nov–24 Dec). Castle Street hosts the Real Scottish Christmas Fair (3 Dec–8 Dec), and plugs fairtrade foods at the Ethical Christmas Fair (10 Dec–18 Dec). The Highland Village Christmas Market starts in East Princes Street Gardens on 24 Nov (until 4 Jan) and there’s also Christmas shopping fairs at St Columba's-by-the-Castle (26 Nov & 10 Dec, 10am), with Scottish designers showing off the best of their homewares. Noir! (10 Dec, 11am, £4–£5) is a stylish shopping fair at Summerhall showcasing budding and established designer fashion, plus spoken word, films, nibbles and art installations.
The Great Edinburgh Santa Run (11 Dec, 9am, £7.50–£12.50) will begin in West Princes Street Gardens (thesantarun.org.uk), with Glasgow’s charity Santa Dash at St Enoch Centre on the same day. Yorkhill Children’s Foundation Christmas Concert (Glasgow City Chambers, 2 Dec, 7.30pm, £5–£10) is now in its tenth year, offering music and dance entertainment to raise funds for the kids’ charity. Edinburgh Christmas Walk (Royal Botanic Garden, 4 Dec, £12, 11am) is a six-mile walk for charities, including Action on Hearing Loss, Scottish SPCA and Save the Children, whilst the Dogs Trust Glasgow Christmas Fair (Dogs Trust Rehoming Centre, Uddingston, 27 Nov, 12pm) is taking donations to help dogs in their care.
Playing
Carousel lovers should head for the fairground rides available at Glasgow’s George Square (from 20 Nov) and Edinburgh’s East Princes St Gardens (from 24 Nov).
For music, there is a series of festive concerts at City Halls and Glasgow Royal Concert Halls, from traditional orchestral pieces from the Scottish Chamber Orchestra to Christmas Classics (see glasgowconcerthalls.com/festive for full listings). A Victorian Christmas at Platform, Glasgow (3 &10 Dec, 1.30pm, £2.50) offers an hour of traditional carols, plus storytelling and mince pies. In Edinburgh, there are free carol concerts at the Royal Botanic Garden> (4 Dec, 1pm & 2.30pm), plus a carol service in Edinburgh Castle’s Great Hall (2 Dec, 1pm, 2pm & 3pm, £8.20–£14). Closer to the big day, the Usher Hall will have Carols by Candelight (20 Dec, 7.30pm, £14.50–£32.50).
Anti-Tradition
For an alternative to your traditional Christmas tunes, look into Kid Canaveral’s second annual Christmas Baubles event (Summerhall, Edinburgh, 17 Dec, 2pm, £15), with Slow Club, Josie Long, eagleowl and Martin John Henry all making appearances on the all-day show. And for slightly off-the-wall festive banter, check out Heavenly’s Smithsmas night in Glasgow (3 Dec, 8pm, £2). There will be a Santa Morrissey. Golly.
A five kilometre fun run dressed as jolly old Saint Nic. As well as working off some of those festive mince pies the race raises funds for worthy causes such as Beaston Cancer Charity.
One of the masters of Scottish contemporary folk is joined by a selection of special guests (including Eddi Reader, Karen Matheson, John McCusker, Kris Drever, Ian Carr and Kevin McGuire along with a guest brass band) for a showcase of modern and traditional Christmas music.
A chance to perfect your pirouettes (or at least let go of the side) as George Square's open air ice rink returns for another year. There are funfair rides (including the return of the Big Wheel), warm drinks served in the double deck bar and free kids entertainment every weekend with Santa Storytelling, art workshops and…
The fair returns to Scotland, bringing with it over 300 exhibitors showcasing the finest in crafts, garden and home accessories, jewellery, clothing and homemade food and drink. Demonstrations and tasting sessions also take place each day.
Located inside a decorated marquee this Christmas fair has around 50 stalls selling a huge range of fairtrade, ethical and local handcrafted gifts, fashion, candles, soaps, jewellery and more. There is also Santa's grotto for the kids and a seating area to enjoy hot food and drink.
So what if JS Bach knocked the Christmas Oratorio together out of bits and bobs he'd written previously? It's still a gloriously uplifting two hours of music, and his craftsmanship was such that you can't see the joins. Singers Lucy Crowe, Clare Wilkinson. Andrew Staples and Andrew Foster-Williams are joined by the SCO…
Deck the halls and break out the Sachertorte, it's Mozart time. Alexander Janiczek directs and takes the solo violin role in an evening of largely Viennese pleasures, consisting of Rossini's Overture 'The Silken Ladder', and Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante, along with Jane Atkins on viola, the Marches in D K335 and the…
In the depths of winter, it makes sense to curl up with something warming and high in calories: Tchaikovsky, c'mere! Act 2 of The Nutcracker contains everyone's favourite sugary morsels, but there's also Rimsky-Korsakov's Suite from 'The Snow Maiden' and Rachmaninov's 3Piano Concerto no 2 to be getting on with, the latter…
Christopher Bell conducts and presents a concert of seasonal favourites, including carols sung by the RSNO Chorus. The climax is a screening of the movie The Snowman, with Howard Blake's fiendishly effective score being played live: the perfect way to introduce your little ones to the notion that all human relationships…
Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without adorning your dwelling with quasi-random bits of foliage. Learn how to make a wreath for your front door and a decoration for the Christmas table out of conifers, holly, berries and moss. Booking is essential.
A six-mile walk for charity, starting and finishing in Inverleith Park and taking in the Botanical Gardens. Supported charities include Action on Hearing Loss, Scottish SPCA, Save the Children, Asthma Scotland and Cats Protection. Dress warmly.
The Christmas edition of Malmaison's farmers' and crafts market, at which the hotel's local food suppliers and local businesses offer their finest for the festive period, with hot chocolate, mulled wine and mince pies on offer for all the family.
Cappella Nova celebrates 25 years of Carols by Candlelight with an evening of seasonal madrigals and expert hey-nonny-ing. Featuring special guests Pure Brass.
Local designers sell handmade prints, textiles, jewellery and more, perfectly timed for picking up a unique and conscience-salving (supporting local makers = A Good Thing) Christmas gift.
A Christmas concert with a theme of animals, so expect plenty of barking, quacking and honking as several decades of Disney themes get an outing. Presented by Jamie MacDougall and conducted by Stephen Bell.
Carols and seasonal tunes performed in period costumes for that extra touch of wig. Including Darke's 'In the bleak midwinter', Corelli's 'Allegro' and 'Pastorale' from Christmas Concerto; Cullen's 'Joy to the World'; Mozart's 'Alleluia' from Exsultate Jubilate; Handel's 'Zadok the Priest' and the Christmas sequence from…
It's not widely known that Irving Berlin couldn't actually write music, relying on other people to write his tunes down for him; nevertheless, one morning in 1940 he said to his secretary 'I want you to take down a song I've written. Not only is it the best song I've ever written, it's the best song anybody ever wrote.…
Challenge Scotland aren't allowing any excuses for not taking part in their Christmas fundraising programme this year – if you can't face the run or the six-mile walk, try these shorter walks of one, two and three miles.
Virginia McKenna introduces a programme of classic movie themes, or at any rate themes from classic movies: Gladiator is a great flick but Gerrard & Zimmer's music for it hasn't quite caught the public ear in the way that John Williams' work on Star Wars has, or Maurice Jarre's majestic score for Lawrence of Arabia…
Christmas market billed as ‘a fashion, food and cultural extravaganza’, brought to you by the organisers behind Edinburgh International Fashion Festival.
Traditional Scottish music and samples of food and drink while you shop. Located in a heated, carpeted marquee to the front Ocean Terminal and part of Ocean Terminal Christmas Village.
The Royal Scottish National Orchestra perform a concert of favorites with works by Mozart, Brahms and Verdi as well as Loch Lomond, Auld Lang Syne, Amazing Grace, Scotland the Brave and Highland Cathedral.
Join Santa and his reindeer on a festive parade with George Watsons Pipes & Drums. Kids are welcome to dress as elves, and infants or toddlers in buggies are welcome. All toddlers receive a medal,certificate and goody bag. Ages 6 and under.
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