Chairman: Nigel Jepps

Speaker:  Andy Thomas, “Christmas – a festival history”

Andy will present a fascinating and uplifting presentation uncovering the long and intriguing background to the festive season.  From the ancient celebration of light in the winter darkness, to the marking of the birth of a messiah, mid December has long been a time of rituals and rejoicing.  Yet the history of Christmas has not been straightforward; its celebration was banned in Puritan times before Victorians rehabilitated the festival into what it has now become.  Andy shows how, for all the modern commercialisation, we can still find meaning in Christmas today and keep the flame alive in the winter darkness.