We are now less than three weeks away from Exmouth’s inaugural Christmas Village and event space launching in The Strand, in the centre of Exmouth.

The event space is a hub of business for local traders to exhibit and sell their goods and services, but also a venue that is able to be used by the community for either Christmas cheer, or indeed for a revenue-generating activity by specialist organisers that the community wishes to participate in, with a percentage being contributed towards the infrastructure costs.

In this installment of news, The Journal is taking a step back and focusing on the community use, and the benefits that such a structure may bring to the community. 

Once the Christmas village finishes on Monday, December 18, the space is being used for an afternoon tea dance for the residents of care and nursing homes with their families. This brings the benefit of having unlimited family in attendance and getting the older generation out for an afternoon of fun and memory-making for all generations. 

Entertainment is being provided by James Billington of All Jazzed up providing classic crooning festive songs, the afternoon tea being provided by The Crusty Cob, and Father Christmas will be in attendance to give guests a stocking of gifts being donated by local businesses. The Rotary Club have been the go-between the organisers and Father Christmas (as they have a special line of communication) and will be handing out stockings full of goodies to the individual being treated. All this is included at £10pp.

The Rotary Club are also relocating their usual Christmas sleigh that residents of Exmouth will remember being in The Magnolia centre, to the Christmas Village. This ensures that the elements are kept at bay and that the good work of collections that they carry out can still take place.

The dates they will be in the Village will be December 21-23. Not only The Rotary Club will be in attendance those days however. Thursday 21 is a meet the maker day, with all manner of local traders actually creating their works of art so that the public can come and watch, ask questions, and even buy direct. 

The stage will play host to Rachel Larsson who will be running macramé workshops - the art of knot-tying, and in this instance to create Christmas decorations. What a lovely activity to do with your family to create decorations that can be used again and again!

On the evenings of December 20 and 21 Exe Events are renting the space to provide a Silent Disco for the youth of the community. For those that don’t know, a silent disco is one that is carried out through wireless earphones. Different music types can be selected by the user - very funny to watch, even more fun to be a part of! On the 20th the age group is 6-10 year olds from 17:30 - 19:30 and on the 21st 5.30pm-7.30pm is for school years 7,8,9 and 8pm - 10pm for school years 10 & 11.

Friday 22 is a busy day with Exmouth Church group taking over the majority of the structure to put on a live nativity and many other activities - too many to describe here! This starts at 9am and finishes at 4pm.