UK events: November 2016
With just two months until Christmas, there’s plenty happening around the UK to start the festive countdown.
And remember, remember the fifth of November! Autumn means we’ll be marking Guy Fawkes Night, or Bonfire Night, with local fireworks displays and organised bonfires happening around the country for you to attend. The celebration first started more than 400 years ago when Londoners lit fires following the failure of Guy Fawkes’ Gunpowder Plot.
Nottingham Winter Wonderland 2016
Nottingham
18 November 2016 to 1 January 2017
Nottingham’s Winter Wonderland is a popular attraction with visitors and locals and it’s the perfect place to get into the festive spirit. Visit the ice rink surrounded by Christmas lights and trees or the cabins selling seasonal food, drink and crafts. Enjoy a warming drink at the winter bar while listening to live music from the bandstand. The festive fun will be complemented by a bigger, better market in the square and along Smithy Row, selling a variety of gifts, decorations and culinary delights.
Birmingham’s Frankfurt Christmas Market & Craft Fair
Birmingham
17 November to 29 December 2016
The largest authentic German market outside Germany and Austria, and the centrepiece of the city’s festive event calendar, returns to Birmingham each year in mid-November for five weeks. It stretches across Victoria Square, New Street, Centenary Square and Chamberlain Square. Explore more than 180 stalls selling gifts, jewellery, decorations, handmade toys, delicious German food and of course the ever popular Glühwein (mulled wine).
Ten things to do at the market
Cornwall Film Festival
29 October to 26 November 2016
Newquay, Cornwall
The Cornwall Film Festival celebrates local, British and international filmmaking, with feature films, Q&As, workshops, talks and parties, providing visitors with the opportunity to network with leading industry professionals.
Over 100 Cornish and international short films, including competition screenings in six genres, as well as special screenings including surf, archival, Cornish and Celtic-language films.
Find out more about the Cornwall Film Festival here
Taste of London
London, Greater London
17 to 20 November 2016
Try out Christmas food and drink with Michelin-starred celebrity chefs at the Taste of Christmas event in London’s Docklands. Each year, just before Christmas, famous TV chefs, popular cookbook authors, Michelin-starred restaurant chefs and expert drinks mixologists guide onlookers through a schedule of themed demonstrations and tastings, many of which are hands-on.
Discover the capital’s best restaurants at the event, each installed as a pop-up version of their London business for the purpose of creating fresh tasting menus for you to sample.
For more inspiration for fun activities to do around the UK, head to the VisitBritain website.