29 November 2007 6pm - 9pm
Old Spitalfields Market, E1
FREE
***An alternative Christmas service by Bestival favourites Lost & Found and Big Love, with singing, dancing, performance, games, mulled wine, a surprise celebrity visit, a "Sympathetic Reverend" called Duncan Pritchard and a Helium Choir***
On Thursday 29th November Old Spitalfields Market launches “A Merry Different Christmas”, a celebration of doing Christmas differently, avoiding sports socks, kipper ties, lumps of coal and Netto gift vouchers, and of actually having fun while you work out what might be right for Auntie Beryl.
Bestival favourites Lost & Found and Big Love will be leading an alternative Christmas service and all are very welcome. Helium Choir will be singing high-octave versions of classic festive songs including Christmas single ‘Little Drummer Boy’ (as heard on BBC Radio 1). Lillywhitesass will present something entirely new from their world of kaleidoscopic burlesque. And the Reverend Duncan Pritchard, in a rare trip away from his Big Love Inflatable Church will sermonise on the subject of bad gifts and other yuletide let-downs.
A visit from a very special celebrity guest (turning on our eco-friendly single Christmas light), a jolly good xmas disco and an Alternative Christmas Confession Booth will all be on the agenda in this night of singing, dancing, performance games and mulled wine.
It’s all in the Spitalfields tradition of Christmas events that avoid the usual C-list boy bands flicking a big boring switch and instead offer a marvellous night out for friends and families alike. Last year saw infamous local landlady Sandra Esquilant turn on a ‘Jingle Punk Rock Christmas Glade’ to the sound of surf Christmas covers and crooning, while the previous year saw Gilbert & George arrive aloft a horse and carriage to illuminate a tree made from scaffolding (later declared as one of London’s five best Xmas trees by the Evening Standard).
Old Spitalfields Market is London’s unrivalled best place to shop for original gifts, special somethings that will be loved and cherished for years to come. Shoppers who come to Old Spitalfields Market will be supporting small shops and independent market traders, selling products they have personally chosen and often even designed themselves. Boho jewellery, unusual chairs, gourmet teas, vintage vases, Moroccan teapots, leather handbags, maximalist kitsch, pocket gardens and old-fashioned wooden toys are amongst the many amazing presents on offer, making Spitalfields surely the *only place to get away from the High Street this Christmas.
