Covent Garden, London

Christmas and stylish. Two words that don’t have to be mutually exclusive.

Don’t get us wrong. We like tinsel, snowmen, robins, giant illuminated bells and Yule logs as much as the next person but, well, here at Covent Garden we like to do things a little differently.

Granted, last year’s Christmas Deluxe programme of events was a barnstorming success, but this year’s stylish Christmas Delight will blow it away. Some might call us ‘cocky’, but we prefer ‘justifiably confident’. Put it this way, the lighting alone will redefine the capital’s Christmas visuals experience

Covent Garden’s iconic Market Building has been transformed into a futuristic winter palace with modular light displays by creative collective UVA. With those lights come some fabulous sounds, courtesy of an eclectic programme of musical performers. Whether it’s the beatbox-meets-flute genuis of Nathan ‘Flutebox’ Lee (the clue is in the name, obv) or the Modified Toy Orchestra (ditto), the live music line-up joins the dots between contemporary and classical work.

Londoners and visitors to Covent Garden can also visit the Shop Of Delight from 24th November, an eclectic pop-up store offering a variety of stylish ways to have a spendthrift Christmas. After all, just because there’s a credit crunch, doesn’t mean that it has to be lentils and rainwater for Christmas lunch.

Of course, Christmas is also a time for thinking of others, including those less fortunate than ourselves. To that end, Covent Garden has partnered with Crisis, the national charity for single homeless people, for Christmas Delight. Crisis will open seven shelters across London to help homeless people over the festive period.

So if you’re in Covent Garden and you see a Crisis collector, please spare them some change. It’ll help to give someone a much happier Christmas. If you can spare something even more precious than money – your free time – then Crisis is always looking for volunteers to help out over Christmas. Go to www.crisis.org.uk for more info.

So tweak the nose of the credit crunch and stare down the spectre of financial worry, because Christmas Delight’s innovative events are completely free. The winter wonderland is waiting for you…