Festival Time (Part 2)

If the Eat and Drink Festival celebrated what Christmas is all about (the coming together as a family and all the food we eat), the Ideal Home Show was all about Christmas planning at home! From interiors and decorations to toys, fashion and beauty, it was inspirational and so exciting!

The first thing you realise when you step through its doors is that it’s a festival for Christmas! Seriously, I haven’t seen so many Christmas trees together in my life! Obviously, I’m kidding, but the sheer amount of snowy Christmas trees will leave you with the idea that Christmas is all around (to borrow the lyrics of the Love Actually song)! But not only that. Fake snow, teddy bears and other fluff, toys, jewellery, it was like talking a walk in Central London, which instead took place in Olympia.

From the choir(s) that took turns entertaining us to a beautiful corner with a Christmas tree and a fake fireplace, this was a true celebration of Christmas at home. Taking the time to go around all the stalls is definitely an achievement, as the exhibition is quite huge and it will definitely take you a full 3 hours to get the whole experience. What I really enjoyed though was a talk about Christmas dinner party etiquette with Rosemary Shrager. It was really fascinating! And yes people it is really important where to place the red wine and the white wine glasses! Savoir vivre is the name! And while there are 100s of articles talking about office Christmas parties, there aren’t a lot about Christmas dinners at home, which is why we attended this talk!

While the Ideal Home Show Christmas edition resembled a generic Christmas exhibition, there are still some things that I loved. There was an exhibitor from Southampton of all places with… pianos! A lot of them actually! If you know me, you’ll know that I am a huge music fan, mainly because I used to play keyboards and piano for the better part of a decade. My biggest love is the piano though, because in my opinion its sound is so pure and strong simultaneously. Anyway, they had several pianos and as we were walking by, they started playing Eric Clapton! I just about fainted!

Some exhibitors had leather sofas that were so inviting to sit, after such a long day! But I was strong-willed and I only looked at them! Enviously mind you, but I only looked! My brother at that time was stuck at a BMW i stand. Please don’t start asking me about it! I just know that it is an electric car and that my brother fell in love with it. What can one say? Boys and their toys! All of these, and many more that I forgot to mention, made this an exhibition to excite and inspire all of us, no matter where we live, in order to prepare for Christmas. After all, home is where the heart is and Christmas celebrates exactly that!

In general, the Ideal Home show was an all-family exhibition. It may sound generic and trite, but it still let us have that Christmassy spark! Christmas is just around the corner and we need to celebrate with family and friends. And what better way to have that than making our homes sparkle with all things Christmas?