Early Christmas

This year, Tesco Durham went Christmassy on November the 1^st.  Many other shops had of course already installed their decorations and displays.  Everyone I know gets annoyed by how early Christmas arrives each yeah, and it has been a pet hate of mine for years.

This year my thinking on the matter developed slightly.

We look at Christmas as one day, after weeks of build-up, which is usually a bit of an anticlimax.  We should think of Christmas as more of an extended festival, which begins on December 1^st, in a quite relaxed and low-key manner, and climaxes on December 25^th.  In the intervening period occur carol services, Christmas parties, gift shopping etc.

You see, I think that one reason why Christmas begins so early (other than profit-making) is that people want more than just one day from the biggest festival of the year.  By seeing Christmas as a 3-week festival rather than just one day, this desire would be satisfied.  Of course, not that whole 25 days would be as intense as the 25^th.

Let’s think of ‘Christmas’ as an extended festival that lasts 25 days.  No more and no less.  Shops and other public places start decorating premises and selling Christmas goods from December 1^st.  Activities and celebrations get steadily more intense until the climax day on 25^th.

I know that this isn’t very different from what currently occurs.  The difference is in the mindset more than the activities.  See Christmas as a long festival, not just a day preceded by months of unnecessary hype.