London's Winter Wonderland

As my regular Blogistas know I am a fan of German Christmas Markets as an entertaining distillation not just of the Xmas spirit but also the earlier instances of mid-winter feasts. These celebrations, be they Diwali, Hanukah, Samhain, Winter Solstice or Sancta Lucia mark the turn of the year of the year when at the moment of greatest darkness and infertility the tedium is relived with light, feasting and music and always the hope of regeneration to sustain life in the year ahead. Indeed the 25th December was originally the Roman Feast of Saturnalia and was celebrated by the Cult of Mithras as the birthday of the Persian hero and sun-god, Mithras.

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2009/12/bona-saturnalia.html

As such the mid-winter feast is a shared cultural experience amongst many peoples. Much of the iconography of our Xmas comes from the German peoples and particular the cult of the woodsman seen in Bavaria and the Tyrol which also provides a rich seam of folk tales as seen in modern fairy tales such as Red Riding Hood and the Tales of the Brother Grimm.






The ECube Bar



So it is fitting in the centre of one of London’s largest parks that a Winter Wonderland Village appears at the end of November with all the trimmings. Winter fairs and outdoor ice skating are all the rage during the winter, and the London Winter Wonderland at Hyde Park is one of the biggest and best open from 10am to 10pm every day, seven days a week across 3200²m of historic parkland. The fair is organised by AEG who are the experienced operators of the O2 Dome venue in London so it is a very professional operation. There are plenty of toilets, cash pints and good access with all weather surfaces and good signage, access it either from the Hyde Park Corner of Marble Arch end of Hyde Park. Best of all there is no entrance charge which allows you to freely wander and browse through the attractions.


Ice Rink


The Talking Tree





It is full of all kinds of festive fun from ice skating to Santa's Grotto and includes London's largest open-air ice rink. Covering 1400m² and accommodating 400 skaters at any one time, the rink is created with 130,000 litres of frozen water, weighing 130 tonnes, and kept frozen by 13km of piping. Winter Wonderland features an outdoor ice rink, a traditional German Christmas Market, Zippo's Christmas Circus, and a 50m giant observation wheel offering views of Hyde Park.





So if you are not keen on slogging down Oxford Street battling the tourists to buy your Christmas presents or battling through our snowbound airports then head down to the German Christmas Market at the Winter Wonderland 2010 for some great ideas. Stuffed with all kinds of traditional Christmas fare, you can treat yourself to a few goodies before loading up for friends and relatives who will be delighted to receive some unusual gifts. Looking around the stalls they compete well with the crafts and Xmas gifts you find at the real thing in Germany and are a good place to find gifts which are special and often inexpensive.





Alongside the German Market, Winter Wonderland tickets also give you access to plenty of cafes where you can get hot drinks to warm you up after your session on the ice rink. A perfect sport for the romantic, there's nothing quite like a spot of ice skating before you sip a hot chocolate and watch the other skaters. We tried Bratwurst and Currywurst from a stall which had an authentic round brazier and very tasty they were too! Priced at £4.00 each, which is also the price of Gluhwein and a pint of beer at the many stalls and bars. I thought the pricing was reasonable given the quality of Winter Wonderland and the facilities provided without an admission charge. Certainly the crowds at the event seemed to agree and my friends thought it better than a similar event they went to in Dortmund the previous year.






AAARRRRGGGHHH!!!!

There are many Christmassy attractions to grab your attention at the Winter Wonderland, but one of the highlights is the giant observation wheel that will give you some great views across the city. Look down on the ice rink, the market and across Hyde Park, and enjoy the spectacular views in the winter sunshine. Plenty of fun rides and many other attractions are also on the go meaning you can spend all day in the delightful surroundings of this Christmas themed park.



A new addition to this year's Hyde Park Winter Wonderland is Zippo’s Circus, who have put together a bespoke festive event inside a huge heated big top. However looking at other reviews many felt the daytime 45 minute show was poor value.




Zippos Circus



The fair is free to enter with tokens for all rides and attractions available for purchase on the day, however advance booking is available and is strongly recommended for the ice rink and giant wheel. The rides generally charge a different number of tokens dependent on how complex they are with most rides requiring two tokens and rides like the wheel and the Big Differ requiring six tokens. Many of the lesser rides such as the Hall of Mirrors and Ghost Train are nicely different from what we are used to in England and well worth visiting. I’m often very cynical about so called English fun fairs which seem to be run by a tribe of tattooed Gorillas from Southend called the “Showmen” so it was wonderful to see representatives from two of the better ambassadors of the English Fun Fair Tradition. Irvin’s had some of their wonderful traditional rides including their Carousel with some wonderful gilded horses which would not have looked out of place in “Mary Poppins.” Carter’s Steam Fair also has some of its wonderful steam powered Edwardian Rides so all in all, something here for kid young and old!



The name of the event is derived from the famous Christmas song Winter Wonderland which was first published in 1934. The composer was Felix Bernard (1897-1944) and the lyricist was Richard B. Smith (1901-1935). Probably the most popular versions of this classic Christmas song, Winter Wonderland, were recorded to high acclaim by the Andrews Sisters and Perry Como. The lyrics of Winter Wonderland have undoubtedly contributed to the magical vision of snow at Christmas together with the tradition of building snowmen and therefore turning fantasy into reality by creating a real Winter Wonderland.





The Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park owes its success to its size with over a hundred stalls, 10 bars and over 30 funfair attractions as well as the Ice Rink and Circus. With its variety it has wide appeal from couples on a night out, families enjoying all the fun of the fair, groups going out for a beer and a snack and indeed anybody who, in the long established tradition, wants to banish the winter blues and look forward to the New Year ahead! Winter Wonderland runs from 19th November to 4th January 2011.



See also;

Xmas in London

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2009/12/xmas-in-london.html

Lübeck and its Xmas Market

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2009/10/lubeck-and-its-xmas-market.html

Lübeck, Queen of the Hansa

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2007/08/lbeck-queen-of-hansa.html

And, here is the Winter Wonderland website;

http://www.hydeparkwinterwonderland.com/

Bona Saturnalia

Coming up to the 25th December many decry that the “message” of Christmas has been lost. However, just how Christian is this date? There is no certainty that Jesus of Nazareth was born around this date and indeed the date was already important for other reasons beforehand being both the Feast of Saturnalia and having been proclaimed as the feast of the Sun God. In many cultures the Winter Solstice provided a way point for the rebirth of the Sun and for a devotional systems based on the Sun God. The New Testament gives no date or year for Jesus’ birth. The earliest gospel – St. Mark’s, written about 65 CE – begins with the baptism of an adult Jesus. This suggests that the earliest Christians lacked interest in or knowledge of Jesus’ birth date. Furthermore the 25th December is only celebrated as Xmas by the Western Churches – the eastern and Orthodox Churches mostly celebrate it on the 6th January.

An enigmatic Roman festival, Saturnalia was held at midwinter in honour of the god Saturn. Many of its elements survive in modern Christmas celebrations. Before the 4th century, December 25th was best known as the birthday of the Persian hero and sun-god, Mithras. Mithraism arose in the Mediterranean world at the same time as Christianity imported from Persia.

“Since earliest history, the Sun has been celebrated with rituals by many cultures when it began it's journey into dominance after it's apparent weakness during winter. The origin of these rites, Mithrasists believe, is this proclamation at the dawn of human history by Mithras commanding His followers to observe such rites on that day to celebrate the birth of Mithras, the Invincible Sun.”


Temple of Saturn in the Forum of Rome

The cult of Mithras spread all over the Roman Empire. In 274 AD, the Roman emperor Valerian declared December 25th the Birthday of Sol Invictus, the Unconquerable Sun God.

There is a long tradition of the Christian Church taking other’s iconography and calling it their own! They even took the History of the Jewish People and called it the Old Testament. They took over the Basilicas of the Cult of Mithras which, like Christianity, had at its centre redemption through blood sacrifice. When they took over the Roman Basilicas after Constantine the Great made it the state religion of the Roman Empire they replaced the statues of Jupiter with those of Christos (The anointed one – a title used by the Pharaohs of Egypt as in Ptolemy VI Eucharistos on the Rosetta stone) and changed the inscription from “J.O.M.” (Jovis Omnia Maximus) to “D.O.M.” (Deo Omnia Maximus). They even kept the gold disc behind Jupiter which represented his position as the Sun God (Helios) and depicted their images with the “Halo” as a sign of sanctity.



So the Nazarenes have some form in this area, indeed after celebrating the birth of Jesus of Nazareth in early summer for the first 400 years or so they then purloined the Roman Feast of Saturnalia on the 25th December near to the Winter solstice which was associated with feasting and merriment. Clement of Alexandria (d. 215 AD) recorded that some Christians of the time placed his birth date in April (see Stromata I:21). Hippolytus (d. 236 AD) may have believed that Jesus was born on April 2nd.

In pagan Rome, the celebration of the Winter Solstice began on December 17 with the feast of Saturn - also called the Saturnalia. Through December 23rd, the Roman world engaged in merrymaking and the exchanging of gifts in honour of father sun and mother earth. The Saturnalia festival has an astronomical character, referring to the completion of the sun’s yearly course, and the commencement of a new cycle. Saturn represented by the sun at its lowest aspect at the winter solstice. The earth is cold, most plants are dead, and it was believed that the sun might also be approaching death.

Today winter solstice is around December 21, but because of calendar changes, it was originally December 25th. Saturnalia celebrated the sun overcoming the power of winter, with hope of spring when life would be renewed. In Roman times, Bacchus, the god of wine, became the lord of these festivals.


Planet Saturn

The festivities lasted for a week, normal life being suspended in favour of eating, drinking and giving gifts. Of uncertain origins, Saturnalia continued to be celebrated beyond the Christian era, finally bequeathing many of its elements to the Christmas celebrations of today.

Saturn featured very strongly in Roman religion as the harvest god, responsible for sowing, seed and most things agriculture. His festival, Saturnalia, was a time of much merriment and became the most celebrated of Roman festivals as tools were downed, slaves granted temporary freedom and 'certain moral restrictions were eased', and for all their seriousness in battle the Romans sure knew how to ease a moral restriction when they chose to. It was such a success that we are still feeling its partying power to this day. Saturnalia was originally celebrated on December 17th, but became a week long celebration and paved the way for our festivities at Christmas and New Year.

Saturnalia became one of the most popular Roman festivals. It was marked by crazy antics and reversal of social roles, in which slaves and masters ostensibly switched places. The Saturnalia was a large and important public festival in Rome. In time, it became one of the most popular Roman festivals. It involved the conventional sacrifices, a couch (lectisternium) set out in front of the temple of Saturn and the untying of the ropes that bound the statue of Saturn during the rest of the year. Besides the public rites there were a series of holidays and customs celebrated privately. The celebrations included a school holiday, the making and giving of small presents (saturnalia et sigillaricia) and a special market (sigillaria). Gambling was allowed for all, even slaves; however, although it was officially condoned only during this period, one should not assume that it was rare or much remarked upon during the rest of the year.


Saturnus - God of Agriculture

It was a time to eat, drink, and be merry. It was license within careful boundaries; it reversed the social order without subverting it. It was also an opportunity for men to be completely free with their fellowmen, sometimes evolving into homosexual and sometimes also pedophilic relations. The toga was not worn, but rather the synthesis, i.e. colourful, informal "dinner clothes"; and the pileus (freedman's hat) was worn by everyone. Slaves were exempt from punishment, and treated their masters with disrespect. A Saturnalicius princeps was elected master of ceremonies for the proceedings.

"Masters participated in the Saturnalia’s festivals to show their appreciation for the slaves’ service which led them to realize that by treating slaves with respect and care it was in their best interest, as well as those of the slaves (Nardo 26)".

In simpler terms, both slaves and masters were supposed to be thankful for each other and enjoyed peaceful time together. Saturn is of course today remembered in modern times in two main ways. Firstly the planet which in astronomical terms is impressive, the second largest in the solar system and girded by its famous rings. It also comes with as much religion and mythology as you could ask for. Secondly, Saturn also lent his name to a day of the week, 'Saturday', from 'Saturni dies' in Latin.

Saturnalia continued to be celebrated into the Christian era. The Chronicle of 354 A.D., a commentary on life in Rome at that time used a figure celebrating Saturnalia as the emblem for December.



Yet even when it had ceased to be explicitly celebrated, traces of Saturnalia’s festivities still remained. At the Feast of Fools, held on the 1st January in medieval France it was common for high and low officials to exchanging place during festivities. And today, we find the traditions of gift giving, candle lighting and merry making still survive in the celebrations of Christmas.

So if you decide to celebrate this ancient feast, remember to greet your friends with lusty shouts of "io, Saturnalia!" — Io (pronounced "yo") being a Latin interjection related to "ho" (as in "Ho, praise to Saturn"). But if you still wish to say Merry Christmas in Latin it is “Felix Dies Nativitatis.”

For the Celtic Midwinter Festival of Liath see;

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2010/12/in-darkest-mid-winter.html