Christmas in October

How early is too early to celebrate Christmas?

Christmas. It’s such a joyous time of the year and creates wonderful memories for all who celebrate it. Christmas could be considered the greatest holiday; due to its vast nature it really does have something for everyone to enjoy, be it a love for the classic Christmas music and films, a soft spot for the illustrious Christmas markets, or even endeavouring in a parade of pigs in blankets. It’s totally understandable why there is such a love for the festive period – I mean, who doesn’t love belting out Fairytale on New York at the top of your lungs in a drunken state? 

So, with everyone loving Christmas with a passion, it has often left people wondering: why not start the celebrations early? This has led to a common thread of festive celebrations gradually beginning earlier and earlier. It’s not a shock to see shops stocked with Christmas supplies as early as late September, something that 10 years ago would have been seen as taboo and unnatural. Nowadays, in our Christmas obsessed generation, we are now seeing the month of October, which was once a celebration of all things ghoulish and monstrous in preparation for Halloween, being taken over by a barricade of Christmas decorations. 

Christmas is a wonderful holiday, however it’s quite concerning how much Christmas has taken over the winter period. I can’t be the only person who sees Christmas celebrations all becoming a bit much. I love grandiose and over the top declarations of joy as much as the next, but even for a festive fool like myself, it seems to be getting a bit much. To be entirely honest, I find it utterly ridiculous to see shops selling Christmas advent calendars before Halloween is even dead and buried. Christmas chocolate is fantastic but seeing it sprout up in mid October (pardon the pun) is just a little bit strange. 

Now I’m not naive enough to believe that Christmas celebrations starting earlier comes purely from a place of love for the holiday. I know exactly why it is happening – organisations all around the world have realised the high demand for Christmas supplies. Christmas is a massive money maker for supermarkets and superstores, with the festive period being the leading holiday in terms of money made. It has surpassed Halloween and has long overtook Easter and Bonfire Night. The sheer amount of festive products sold each year is astonishing, so naturally corporate organisations have capitalised on the market and have begun selling products earlier to gain the most profit. It’s basic business. 

Although understandable, it doesn’t mean that I find it normal. This rushing of the Christmas celebrations is slowly killing the special aura which Christmas once had. Seeing Christmas trees in the corner of living rooms in October just feels wrong. I’m not trying to be a grinch or cynical, it’s just I have a real concern about the integrity of this special holiday. 

I really do want everyone to have the best possible holiday they can, but I feel like that’s impossible without the needed buildup. The special feeling as soon as December rolls around and you begin to itch in anticipation for that joyful day. However, that is all taken away when you begin to have decorations and a tree up and ready well before December. It makes Christmas feel fake and just another product, as opposed to a special day that we wait for all year.