Covent Garden will ‘Delight’ visitors this Christmas

This winter, Covent Garden launches Christmas Delight – a unique programme of entertainment and music events, offering something that will charm and delight everyone, from the conscientious consumer, to the Christmas enthusiast, to the thrill seeker and thrifty spender.

United Visual Artists (UVA)

Famed for producing highly visual ground-breaking shows with artists such as Massive Attack, Basement Jaxx and U2, UVA has partnered with Covent Garden in a bold move away from traditional Christmas illuminations, to create London’s most spectacular and unusual Christmas light display. The installation will incorporate hundreds of energy efficient, full colour LED tubes, delicately suspended in the spaces of the Covent Garden Market Building. At specific times, visitors will also be able to interact with the installations via a control box, creating their own patterns of light.

UVA Music Collaborations

From the 17th November to 22nd December, Covent Garden’s Market Building will become a hotbed of new musical talent, as the latest cutting edge musicians, from Shlomo to the Modified Toy Orchestra, to the more traditional London Contemporary Orchestra, collaborate with UVA to create a music and visual spectacular. (See appendix for more detail).

The Shop of Delight

From 24th November to 21st December, Londoners and vistors to Covent Garden will also be able to visit the Shop Of Delight, an electic pop-up store that will offer a variety of stylish ways to have a spend-thrift Christmas. Each week the shop will focus on a different thrifty theme, showing people how to make, bake and sew their own and turn unwanted goods into presents. (See appendix for more detail).

The Wishing Well

The Wishing Well Installation, created by British voice to text company SpinVox and produced by design communications agency Freestate, allows visitors to speak their wishes into their mobile phone and automatically converts them to text. The SpinVox Wishing Well is a distinctive 7.2 metre-high triangular tower upon which wishes will be projected across the inner walls in real time – creating an audiovisual art installation on the Piazza.

Visitors are encouraged to be creative in their choice of wishes and use this opportunity to speak freely. A range of wishes are expected – from the personal and the political to the barmy and bizarre.

The Wishing Well will be open to the public from 10am until 11pm daily from December 12th until January 5th.

Crisis

Covent Garden will partner with Crisis, the national charity for single homeless people, during Christmas Delight. Crisis is dedicated to ending homelessness by delivering life-changing services and campaigning for change, and throughout the Christmas period Covent Garden will be providing ways to raise money for the cause. See Crisis.org.uk.

Bev Churchill, Covent Garden London Brand Director comments:

“Building on the success of last year’s Christmas Deluxe, this year’s Christmas Delight will be a unique Christmas offering for those looking for a more cutting-edge experience in the heart of London’s West End. From the UVA installation to the Shop of Delight, our Christmas programme continues to strengthen our reputation as one of London’s most exciting public places”.

The ultimate destination for Londoners this Christmas, Covent Garden will provide the perfect location for a contemporary Christmas experience with friends and family.

Visit Coventgardenlondonuk.com to find out more.