Beach Hut 10

Local illustrator Mandy Taylor pulled out all the stops at hut 376 and not only created a great display but arranged for local womens Morris Dancing troupe Cuckoo's Nest to come and perform.

The theme was While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks By Night and so there were sheep images and some hanging socks - alluding to the humorous alteration of that to 'washed their socks' that we all know about.


Mandy reflected on the theme under the title 'Glory in our everyday lives in Brighton'.



I've been thinking about the text that this carol came from (Luke 2). It says that when the angels appeared to the shepherds (just ordinary guys) the glory of the Lord shone around them. I think God's glory can still be seen shining today as ordinary people who are made in his image reflect his character. We see his glory in Brighton as we see people being creative, building relationships and communities, administering justice, working and serving others as well as in many other ways. God's glory can be seen in ordinary people in very ordinary places.

The Morris dancers then proceeded to show some of this creative spirit through their dances and even got the public involved so they could experience some of this for themselves.



The next hut is number 350.

Beach Hut 9

Tonights hut was a fine art evening as local artist Janette Tozer displayed some paintings specially created for this event.

The main painting featured an angel and is entitled 'In Terris Pax Hominibus Bonae Voluntatis' which means "On Earth Peace, Goodwill To All Men'.

She also had a second feature painting of an angel entitled 'The First Noel' which was the theme carol for the night.

Being an artist is about seeing as much as it is doing and during the evening Janette spotted a beautiful star and cross effect created by the lights along the seafront and the reflection on the promenade which she's captured in this beautiful photograph.


The next hut is number 376 and as well as art will include some dances from the Cuckoos Nest morris dancers.

Beach Hut 8

Tonight was a first as not only was it hut 8 in our Advent Calendar but was also a book launch. Local author Cathy Watts launched the second of her 'Sandies' books illustrated by Emma Ball. The books feature a cast of cheerful, colourful characters who live underneath the beach huts and have all kinds of adventures on the local seashore. 'Hello again Sandies' includes a story about 3 ships so the carol for the evening had to be 'I Saw Three Ships'!


There was an opportunity to buy the new book and to make a frosted beach hut but the fairly persistent drizzle made it quite difficult to engage in any craft activities. The display featured illustrations taken from the book as well as various items from the beach that could have been found in one of the stories.


After a our first full week there are still a number of people who have been able to collect a beach hut stamp for every day which is quite an achievement given the kind of weather we've been having but fortunately the forecast is a little better for tomorrow at hut 315.

Beach Hut 7

Brightest and Best was the carol but it wasn't reflected in the weather tonight as we started in the worst rain and wind we'd had so far this Advent. Despite this Janina persevered and set up her triptych of icons and by 6pm we were rewarded with a cessation of the rain and some respite from the wind and the evening ended quite calm.


Janina is a local artist who specialises in collage icons made from discarded material and things she finds on the beach and for tonight she had created three icons of the madonna and child as the carol is all about the infant saviour.



Janina also runs Poets Cornered - a local poetry group based in the Poets Corner area of Hove and she wrote a poem for tonight about the home where Jesus began his life on earth:

When I was 15
I'd dream of running away from home
Would plan spending a night in a barn
Until I saw one close up and realised
I'd be sharing it with rats so that was that
So then, I thought, I could break into a beach hut
Until I saw the size of the padlocks securing every door.
In the end - I ran away - anyway
and stayed with a family beside the A23
on my aborted attempt to walk to London
and became an aunty to three children overnight.
Jesus, himself, was born in a barn -
Not through any choice of his own - as it happens
But - as trite as it may sound
It's love that makes a home.

The sense of Jesus identifying with the dispossessed and homeless prompted Janina to talk to local charity Off The Fence to ask what they needed most in their work with the homeless this Christmas. The answer is hats and gloves and chocolate if you're local and can help with this or you can go to their website to make a donation towards this work.

Tonight local author Cathy Watts launches her latest childrens book at hut 332.

Beach Hut 6

Tonight was all about angels and hut 425 had a host of them. The carol was Hark the Herald Angels Sing and if this lot turned up outside your stable and started warbling you'd definitely hear them - there were loads!!






There were also loads of people out tonight, something like 100 people braved the cold night wind under a beautiful clear, starlit sky. Lots of new people came tonight having read about it in the press this week or heard about it on the radio and decided to come down on an evening when it was unlikely to rain.

The weather was beautiful with a clear deep black sky pinpointed by stars twinkling in the heavens. You could almost imagine the angel throng winging it's way down from heaven across the breaking waves announcing the good news of Jesus' birth on that first Christmas morning.

Down below the angel host was a tiny little stable scene with Mary, Joseph and Jesus, dwarfed by the majesty of the legions of heaven. Our little hut felt like a haven of peace watched over by angels in the midst of a stormy world.

The next hut is quite close to tonight's location at number 382.

Beach Hut 5

It was a dark and stormy night tonight at number 225 with a really strong wind coming off the sea straight into the hut. This gave an added dimension to the display which consisted of lots of hanging silver stars which danced and spun in the wind adding to the effect created by a spinning starball throwing out sparkling beams of light across the scene. Below all this heavenly activity sat the beautiful, tranquil little town of Bethlehem, simply depicted using blocks of wood against a stark black backdrop.

Despite the wind and rain loads of people came out and it was great to see so many families braving the weather and enjoying themselves splashing about in the puddles.













Someone commented on how the whole event made them think about God in a way they hadn't before and that they felt a spiritual atmosphere which they didn't normally associate with Christmas.

That's one of the things we're hoping to achieve with this event as we help people to focus on the real meaning of Christmas.

Tomorrow, hut 425 right next to Hove Lagon.

Beach Hut 4

All was peace tonight at beach hut 177 although those who came along were confronted by a slightly strange sight. There is always music at our daily openings as each hut owner chooses a Christmas carol on which to base their design and we play different versions of that carol throughout the evening.

But tonight was a bit different - tonight anyone coming along would have seen the crowd around the hut moving in time together but in total silence, as though they were being rocked by some invisible force.


This was the Advent silent disco and the carol to go with this?........
Silent Night of course.



A silent disco works by having a small radio transmitter playing the music to sets of wireless headphones which everyone wears so that they get their own personal experience of the music. There were two different channels to listen to tonight, one full of funky, upbeat Christmas tunes and the other with quiet versions of Silent Night.

It was quite interesting watching people and trying to work out which music track they were listening to, although fairly easy to work out once they started dancing. Every one joined in, not only because it was fun, but also because the headphones kept our ears warm on a cold and slightly rainy night.



The hut decoration had a real beach theme to it as Sam had carpeted her hut in pebbles and created a massive choir of peg people who all looked like they were waiting to join in at any moment.





This was a wonderfully inventive evening which gave everyone a chance to try something that perhaps they hadn't tried before with great success. Perhaps we should introduce silent sections to our worship in church so that we get a chance for personal reflection as part of the music whilst it still being a communal act?

Tomorrow we're at hut 225 just next to the Babylon lounge when we'll be having a real family evening.

Beach Hut 3

There was lots to rejoice about tonight as hut number 128 was taken over by All Saints Church Hove, who chose O Come, O Come Emmanuel as their carol.

Bright fluorescent colours offset the dark icon which was the centrepiece of the display with a mass of different Christmas lights hung around the hut and arranged on the floor.


This is the first time that we've had a chance to sing and we were all given song sheets so that we could sing the theme carol to the accompaniment of a ukelele played by one of the parishioners who is just about to head off to Afghanistan to work over the Christmas period.

It's interesting to see the mix of people who come along and already those of us who attend each night are beginning to get to know some of the folk who are making this a regular part of their preparation for Christmas.

The loyalty scheme seems to be helping with this as every night there are a number of people who are keen to get a stamp on their card with many of them having 100% attendance so far.



It's great to meet people who have made a special effort to come and see what we're doing like the group of university first year girls who came along tonight after reading about us on the internet. In some cases we've been able to renew relationships first begun at last years event as well.





There'll be more opportunities to meet people, chat and share mince pies and mulled wine together tomorrow night at hut number 177 where we'll get a chance to experience an open air silent disco.

Beach Hut 2

Despite torrential rain most of the day and while we were setting up, the weather turned calm and fine for the hour alotted for our opening tonight and we had a a lovely calm evening under the full moon. This fitted with the theme which was Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silent, a beautiful, quiet carol from the 4th century about Christ descending to earth surrounded by the host of heavenly angels.

To symbolise this we had a 1m high block of crystal clear ice embedded with a nativity scene showing Jesus descending towards the stable while Mary and Joseph waited in expectation. The angels were symbolised by pairs of feather wings floating above the scene, accompanying Jesus as he floated down. The whole tableau was lit with LEDs and lasers giving a gorgeous ethereal light. There's something about the way figures can be suspended in ice like this that is very magical and the carol has a mystical air to it that matched the mood of the sculpture very well.

When the event was over we were able to take the block of ice to a local school and install it in their playground so that the children can see how long the ice lasts in these winter conditions. This was Martin Poole's hut and those who know him will recognise themes from the last year as we've dabbled with lasers and ice sculptures at various other events in the BEYOND calendar, not least being the ton and a half ice sculpture we created for Greenbelt.

Numbers were good again tonight with plenty of people keen to get their stamps towards winning the Hotel du Vin prize. Tomorrow we're down by Hove Lawns at hut 128.

Beach Hut 1

This years Beach Hut Advent Calendar got off to a cracking start tonight with loads of people turning up to enjoy a rain free evening for the first time in ages, we hope that God continues to look after the weather for us as the month continues. People came see what was in the hut, to share in mince pies, mulled wine and chat and to collect a stamp on their postcard to give them a chance of winning our fabulous prize. Hut 431 is owned by the Hotel du Vin in Brighton and the person who collects the most stamps during the month stands a chance of winning dinner, bed & breakfast for two at this chic boutique hotel between The Laines and the seafront.

The theme for tonight was God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen and Karen Morton from the Beyond team created a tableau featuring two gentlemen who were resting after partaking of a very fine meal. The table was laid with the remains of their plum pudding and half a bottle of port as the two men slumbered peacefully awaiting the dawn of Christmas day.

People have been telling us all day that they've heard or seen news reports about the launch on TV and radio and we're also being followed by The Independent who plan to feature something from us every day this month. We can't claim to be unique this year as a group in Bridlington have picked up the idea and are doing their own advent calendar using one strategically placed hut and giving 24 different artists a chance to interpret a part of the Advent story. You can follow them on their blog and compare the daily displays as we head towards Christmas. If we manage to get our heads round the technology we may even start tweeting from the huts so if you tweet follow us on @BeachHutAdvent.

Tomorrow we're at hut number 395 where there'll be an artwork particularly suited to the weather at this time of year.

Rhythms of Life and Advent

Sunday we looked at Rhythms of Life starting from the cycles of the universe and solar system down to seasons, days and our own daily routines and rhythms. Rhythm is built into all creation and we all carry a reminder of that with us everywhere in our own heartbeat.

We looked at the passage in Ecclesiastes 3 which talk about the times and seasons of life and is written in a beautifully rhythmic way as a series of contrasting couplets. We used these couplets to play game and then took some time to draw a rhythm map of our lives using a circle made from the couplets and considering how close or far away we felt to each of the emotions described in the passage.Finally Tirl Bryant from the Psalm Drummers took part in the event and urged us all to look for God's heartbeat in our lives.

After only a year we have developed our own rhythm at BEYOND and find ourselves back at the Beach Hut Advent Calendar which launches tonight. Got to our website for the full timetable of openings and if you're anywhere nearby come and visit us one night at 5.30pm. Come back here every day if you can't visit us in person and we'll post photos and words from each night as we go along.