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London Celebrates Holidays with Music Shows, Shopping, Fireworks | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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Christmas And New Year Holiday Preparation – Getty Images


London – The Christmas and New Year’s Eve holiday season in London has it’s own special taste with constant festivities starting with gifts, fireworks, lights and vibrant decorations of shops and streets.

This month is known as “the Festive Season” in the British Capital which is characterized with its decors and lights – not only in the main streets but also inside and out of the British houses. During this season, London hosts a big number of tourists who spend their holiday in theaters and markets doing different activities, while many other people visit the city to wander in the western neighborhood streets to watch the lights and decors of renowned stores.

This year, Oxford has been the best decorated street along with streets of the western neighborhood like streets of Bond, Regent, Carnaby, Strand and the Duke of York Square along with Covent Garden and Shepherd Market. Pantomimes Parties, the Mother Goose and Aladdin will be shown at the city’s theater including the Broadway Theater in Catford. Many other universal plays will also take place in theaters like Sleeping Beauty, Sindibad, and Cinderella.

London also offers its visitors the chance to shop in the “Christmas Markets” where they can find different kinds of food, beverages, and special gifts dedicated for this season. Streets also feature music choral for fundraiser of charity foundations and for spreading warmth in the cold days of winter.

The Christmas festivities in the British Capital must include artificial skating arenas in addition to the “Wonderland Festival” that offers an amusement park for children, skating spots, and shops selling food, beverages, and gifts.

For people seeking to have their Christmas dinner in one of London’s restaurants, they should book early for this meal as most of the renowned restaurants usually become fully-booked during the last week of the year.

London in Christmas is keen to organize a number of markets including:

The Belgravia Market in Elizabeth Street set to be held on Sundays of the first three weeks of December; it features handicrafts, foods, and beverages along with music bands and choral.

The Kew Village Market which offers romantic ambiance, children’s amusement parks, and music.

The Greenwich Market at Christmas held at the O2 halls and offers handicrafts, and handmade toys.

The Southbank Market inspired from the German spirit held in tents with the participation of more than 50 British designers who show jewelry, ceramic designs, homemade products, and paintings.

This year will include a number of new markets across London including the Lister Square Market and the Christmas Forest selling Christmas trees.

London also splurge on celebrating New Year’s Eve and great parties surround the city providing festivities for all categories with plenty of music until morning. Along with parties across London, a shopping festival, considered among the best festivals in the world launches during the season and brings great offers for people who wait for it on annual bases for the best winter shopping. It starts in the last week of the year and run till the end of January with the participation of all stores in the British Capital including Harrods and many other boutiques.

Last but not least, the capital also witnesses gigantic fireworks festival on The River Thames near the Big-Ben clock where around 250 million people assemble to watch this great 30 minutes-show and welcome their new year.

This year, the municipality of London decided to sell 100,000 tickets only for this show to avoid massive crowds and called people who didn’t have the chance to buy the ticket, to watch the show from their homes.