The Laboratory

This weekend just gone was a great opportunity to visit all the Scandi Christmas Fairs in London. From the Swedish Church in Marylebone to the Finnish and Norwegian Churches in Rotherhithe, there are crafts, marzipan pigs, glög, Moomins, jellies and grilled reindeer. It's not too late - the Finnish Church has another one next weekend at  https://britannia.merimieskirkko.fi/en/2024/10/finnish-christmas-fair-2024/

This year was an exciting one at the Finnish Christmas Fair in London. It's 100 years since Finland gained independence and there are lots of celebrations. You could buy Finland-shaped cookie cutters that said "100", and special edition sweets (mainly liquorice, a Finnish favourite). It was also a great chance to meet a genuine Moomin, and buy some Doris biscuits. Bonus Advent Calendar of the day: For those of you who love The Box Of Delights, the Bodleian Library has devoted their calendar this year to a whole range of eclectic items linked with the book and series: http://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/advent2017

We went to Kingfield School's Frost Fair on Saturday; our local primary now holds it outside, hence the frosty name. Sarah won 2 bottles of squash in the bottle tombola. We weren't as lucky with "Rudolph's Lucky Carrot" game, where you had to find the special red carrot to win a prize. Adam was just sad there wasn't a "Splat The Rat". Bonus beats: if you want an abundance of Christmas stalls selling everything from reindeer burgers to toys to jewellery, the South Bank market in London is open until February (probably).Our favourite stall is the one selling German handicrafts.

Every year we love to spend our time (and our pennies) at the fantastic fairs run by Scandinavian churches in London. Do join us buying food, drink, gifts and decorations from our Scandi friends! Swedish Church Christmas Fair Location: Ulrika Eleonora Parish Church, 6 Harcourt Street, London, W1H 4AG website for further information: http://www.swedishchurch.com 2012: Thursday 22 November 11.00-20.00 Saturday 24 November 11.00-18.00 Sunday 25 November 12.00-17.00 Norwegian Christmas Bazaar (Julebasar) Location: St. Olav's Church, 1 St Olav's Square, Albion Street, Rotherhithe, London SE16 7JB websites for further information: http://www.scanevents.co.uk/christmasmarket/index.html http://www.norway.org.uk/News_and_events/culture/Christmas-Events/Annual-Norwegian-Christmas-Fair/ (not yet updated for 2012) 2012 Friday 23 November - 11am to 7.00pm Saturday 24 November - 10.30am to 6.00pm Sunday 25 November - 10....

One of our favourite things in the run up to Christmas is visiting a really good Christmas Fayre (as Victoria Wood said, you get a better class of people if you spell it with a 'y'!) In previous years we've just supported our local school Kingfield Primary at their fair, but this year we took a trip up to Finchley Road in North London to visit the Danish Festive Fair. Held at the Danish YWCA, it's a fantastically busy building full of blond Scandinavians and the well-heeled of London, buying food, flowers, decorations, cards, crafts and of course enjoying the cafe, bistro and hot dog van. In London there are fairs organised by the Danes, the Swedes, the Norwegians, the Finns AND the Swiss. They all happen on the last two weekends in November and are well worth a visit! Find out more by doing searches on "Swedish Church London" etc and maybe we'll see you there next year!