Christmas is coming ladies and gents and I am indecently excited. This year I am abandoning my usual bah humbug attitude and whole-heartedtly embracing the whole festive thing. I’m going to buy a real tree, a massive one that will only just fit in my flat. I’m going to actually remember to send cards to people and I’m not going to throw anything at carollers, I might even not pretend to be out when I hear them!

There are certain sights that, to me at least, herald the beginning of the festive season. That special coke advert, mince pies in Marks & Spencers (they make the best ones) and C-list celebrities turning on lights in town centres across the country. This year something new is marking the beginning of the Christmas Countdown, something slightly unexpected and distinctly modern.

On Tuesday, thirty Santas rode those little silver foot-powered scooters through London’s West End. Apparently the gang of Clauses were marking a traffic-free shopping day scheduled for next month. On Saturday 6 December, Oxford Street and Regent Street, perhaps Britain’s busiest shopping streets, will be made traffic-free zones to allow shoppers easier and safer access to the shops.

Pretty good idea I reckon, after all, nothing dampens your Christmas like being run over in the middle of London.

The event is organised by the New West End Company and it will be called ‘Shop West End Very Important Pedestrians Day’ catchy eh? Try shortening it….S.W.E.V.I.P.D…..swevvieped, bit better. I can forgive the slightly lacklustre name, after all it is a devilishly brilliant plan. They will be giving shoppers maybe 6 times more wandering space.

I personally don’t get on very well with the London crush, so some extra space to swing my bags around will be most welcome. See you on Saturday 6 December on Regent Street. I’ll be the one gleefully spinning in the middle of the road, relishing all that extra space in the middle of London.

Technorati Tags: new west end company, oxford street christmas, regent street christmas, santas on scooters, shop west end very important pedestrians day

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This entry was posted on Thursday, November 6th, 2008 at 12:23 pm and is filed under Theatre. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.