See the Christmas Tree Lights Being Switched On in Lyric Square

---

Kicking off a host of festive celebrations in Hammersmith

Christmas tree in Lyric Square

November 3, 2023

Hammersmith’s festive celebrations will officially begin on Wednesday 22 November, with the switching on of the Christmas tree lights in Lyric Square.

The event will begin at 5.30pm with a performance by the Steel Pan band, followed by a speech from Hammersmith & Fulham Mayor, Councillor Patricia Quigley. The Christmas lights will be switched on at 6.15pm, followed by more music from the Steel Pan band.

While supplies last, the Hop Poles pub will serve mulled wine to Privilege card holders. If you don’t yet have a card, find out more and claim your card on the Hammersmith Bid web site .

It will be followed on Saturday 25 November by this year’s Hammersmith Winter Festival, taking place in Lyric Square and along King Street from 10am till 4pm.

The festival will include a pop-up market selling crafts, jewellery, home accessories, boutique fashion and art; a global food quarter offering food stalls and an outdoor seating area, and entertainment including songs from a Kylie Minogue tribute act, plus Santa, his Elves and much more.

There will be Christmas entertainment at the Hammersmith Winter Festival

There is also a second Christmas Market taking place in Fulham’s North End Road on Saturday December 9. You can find more details about both events here .

King Street’s Livat is saying God Jul! from Saturday 2 December, when Santa takes up residence in his Swedish Grotta. Young visitors will be able to meet the man himself, snap a festive photo using the seasonal Instagram filter and be entertained by his cheeky elf and musical performances. Every child will also receive a gift from Santa to take home.

Buy your Christmas gifts at stalls in the market

Santa will be in his Grotta between 10.30am and 1pm and then 1.30pm and 4.30pm on Saturday and Sunday, December 2 and 3, 9 and 10 and 16 and 17.

He will then return on Monday December 18, Tuesday 19 and Wednesday 20 from 12pm till 2pm and 2.15pm till 4pm. Livat says these free visits, lasting around five minutes per child, will be on a first come, first served basis.

The shopping centre is also offering visitors the chance to swap last year’s Christmas jumper for a new one at its Jumper Swap Station on Tuesday 5 December and Wednesday 6 between 11am and 6pm, or visit the Christmas Gift Wrapping Station to have presents wrapped in return for a small donation to charity. Christmas gift wrapping dates are December 6, 7 and 8 and 13, 14 and 15 from midday till 6pm.

On December 13, from 10.30 till 4pm, Livat will be celebrating Santa Lucia, offering visitors the chance to experience the Swedish festive tradition of Santa Lucia with a traditional choir parade and some tasty Swedish treats.

And as a treat for last minute shoppers, Hammersmith Gospel choir Gold will be performing some favourite festive tunes on December 21, 22 and 23 between 5pm and 7.30pm and then on Boxing Day between midday and 2.30pm.

Hammersmith's Lyric Theatre is of course famous for its panto, and this year is offering Cinderella from November 18 till January 6, alongside Raymond Briggs' much loved Father Christmas for the little ones. You can see a full line-up of Christmas shows, which also include a spectacular production of Peter Pan starring Boy George as the evil Captain at the Eventim Apollo, on this page.

Like Reading Articles Like This? Help Us Produce More This site remains committed to providing local community news and public interest journalism. Articles such as the one above are integral to what we do. We aim to feature as much as possible on local societies, charities based in the area, fundraising efforts by residents, community-based initiatives and even helping people find missing pets. We've always done that and won't be changing, in fact we'd like to do more. However, the readership that these stories generates is often below that needed to cover the cost of producing them. Our financial resources are limited and the local media environment is intensely competitive so there is a constraint on what we can do. We are therefore asking our readers to consider offering financial support to these efforts. Any money given will help support community and public interest news and the expansion of our coverage in this area. A suggested monthly payment is £8 but we would be grateful for any amount for instance if you think this site offers the equivalent value of a subscription to a daily printed newspaper you may wish to consider £20 per month. If neither of these amounts is suitable for you then contact info@neighbournet.com and we can set up an alternative. All payments are made through a secure web site. One-off donations are also appreciated. Choose The Amount You Wish To Contribute. If you do support us in this way we'd be interested to hear what kind of articles you would like to see more of on the site – send your suggestions to the editor. For businesses we offer the chance to be a corporate sponsor of community content on the site. For £30 plus VAT per month you will be the designated sponsor of at least one article a month with your logo appearing if supplied. If there is a specific community group or initiative you'd like to support we can make sure your sponsorship is featured on related content for a one off payment of £50 plus VAT. All payments are made through a secure web site.