Westbourne celebrated a Very Victorian Christmas

Westbourne’s Very Victorian Christmas will be continuing throughout December with Victorian-themed festive fun, including captivating street theatre performers on hand to entertain visitors.

A spectacular opening marked the start of Christmas celebrations in Westbourne. Beginning with the annual Choirs by Candlelight event on the 30^th November, and the arrival of Santa in Westbourne Arcade, the Victorian-themed festive fun will now continue throughout December.

This includes a whole cast of Victorian characters who will be greeting visitors to Westbourne this Christmas. From December 7^th, a Very Victorian Christmas in Westbourne will be conjuring up an atmosphere familiar from Charles Dickens’ celebrated novella A Christmas Carol – when Christmas was the most wonderful time of the year, filled with carol singing, gift wrapping, decorations, magic, and story-telling.

Shoppers will get a taste of ‘Christmas Past’ thanks to a cast of Victorian characters who will be wending their way around Westbourne on Fridays and Saturdays in the run up to the big day. The mesmerising street performers will be delighting visitors on Friday December 7^th between 2pm and 6pm and on Saturday December 8^th between 9am and 4pm.  Along with Victorian walkabout characters, acts on the first weekend will include Victorian Storyteller Trisha Lewis, Street theatre from the renowned ‘Bureau of Silly Ideas’, Southbourne Community Choir and children’s entertainer Jamie Jigsaw.

Many of the acts will be returning on Friday 14^th between 2pm and 6pm, and on Saturday 15^th 10am – 4pm. Other treats for visitors to Westbourne this weekend will include the cheeky but playful Spiced Satsumas performance artists plus the talented Canford Cliffs Community Choir and Sing Now Choir.

Westbourne’s Very Victorian Christmas will reach its finale on the weekend before Christmas with two more days of festive fun on Friday 21^st, between 2pm – 6pm, and on Saturday 22^nd December, between 9am and 4pm. Set to wow Westbourne visitors, there will be Victorian Stilt Walkers on both days plus the incredible magician Man of Magic, the Salvation Army Brass Band, along with the Cantamus Choir and more on the Saturday.