YOUSTAYUK MEMBER RECOMMENDATION

A Victorian Festival of Christmas

near Portsmouth, Hampshire,
England South East

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Recommendation added: 18/11/2007 20:00
By: lucylou (YSUK rating +15)

lucylou has been thanked 11 times for this contribution

"Having just bought my family ticket for this year's Victorian Festival of Christmas in Portsmouth, I thought I better share my past experiences of this wonderful Christmas festival.

Based in Portsmouth at the Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, The Victorian Festival of Christmas is very popular (alot of visitors cross the channel each year) and is a fantastic way to start the Christmas celebration for adults and children.

With a victorian theme, you step back 150 years to celebrate Christmas with a victorian cast such as Scrooge, Mr Bumble and Queen Victoria. There are many people dressed in costumes wondering around the festival. The atmosphere is wonderful and extremely convincing. These re-creations can sometimes be a bit tacky but this fair is brilliant!

There is so much to see and do. Children can ride the fairground entertainments, play in the indoor centre, take part in arts and craft workshops, visit Father Christmas and watch plays in the many rooms. Adults can wander through the European shopping village, Victorian Street, Georgian colonnades and buy super gifts, crafts, festive food and drink. I personally love the mulled wine stall and you even take home a festive mug as a reminder. Music lovers will love the traditional Christmas carols and various marching bands throughout the day.

If you fancy a change from the Christmas scene, you can always explore the famous historic ships – HMS Victory, the Mary Rose & HMS Warrior 1860 are all based in The Historic Dockyard. There is also other attractions including the UK's leading maritime museums, The Royal Naval Museum and Action Stations, a hands-on and exciting showcase for the modern Royal Navy.

Victorian Festival of Christmas is on Friday 30 November – Sunday 2 December 10am – 6pm

Tickets: Adults: Ł10, Seniors: Ł8, Children: Ł8
Family (2 Adults & 3 Children): Ł33
The ticket price includes entry to all the festive entertainment on site plus the historic ships and museums.

I hope you have a lovely time :-)"

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QUICK COMMENTS

Comment	Author	Date
As the re-enactor who plays both Scrooge and Mr Bumble it is very heart warming to know that all the re-enactors efforts are appreciated. We all put a lot in to making the event memorable. We enjoy it and we sincerely hope the visitors do as well. Look forward to seeing you again this year Bah Humbug!	E Scrooge	13/07/2008

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