Beach Hut 17

Tonights hut has been a long time in the making as a local children's home has been planning this for a while. To make sure that it was safe for them they had to do a risk assessment and have had all the children making angels and stars for the hut which were all hung on fishing line to make a wonderful hanging forest. The whole thing was offset with sparkly lights set into the hut ceiling.

To complete the angel theme they had created a full size gold angel who stood guard by the hut although the wind did it's very best to blow it over. Thankfully the weather did decide to mirror the theme carol which was It Came Upon the Midnight Clear and the sky was beautifully clear although there was a very cold wind blowing down from the north bringing snow for later in the evening.

Tomorrow Kirsty from the BEYOND planning team is putting together a special light show in hut 19a.

Beach Hut 16

It was the coldest night since the start of the Beach Hut Advent Calendar but at least it wasn't snowing as it was further north in the county. The cold suited the theme which was The Holy and the Ivy which always feels like a cosy winter scene offset by the deep greens and reds of the leaves and berries. Hut 357a was framed by garlands of holly and ivy and the whole hut was lit by candlelight which made it all feel very warm.

We're still being visited by a few hardy Advent pilgrims who are determined to give themselves the best chance of winning that night at the Hotel du Vin and have managed to collect a whole set of beach hut stamps to date. But we also get a fair number of new visitors each night and it's great to meet them and share a little about what we're doing and why there are so many people out on the beach in all weathers.


Next hut is being decorated by a local childrens home and is number 403.

Beach Hut 15

Tonight we had the privilege of meeting the three kings, beautifully realised by local artist Teresa on Anne-Marie's hut. People could see the wise men from afar as three very distinct characters mounted above the door of the hut which looked like a royal pavilion with it's swathes of red cloth and glittering decoration.

The wise men were not only beautifully painted but were ingeniously constructed as all the jewels on their crowns were made from wine gums. The children who came weren't tempted to try and get the sweets down as Anne-Marie had provided home baked cookies and flapjacks to keep everyone well fed.

We were also treated to some great entertainment as a jazz guitar duo and singer came along to play us various carols and Christmas songs including our theme carol for tonight, We Three Kings of Orient Are.


The next hut is number 357a.

Beach Hut 14

The hut decorators tonight are great at high concept installations and tonight was no exception. Last year they brought us the carpet of sheep for 'While Shepherds watched...' and this year they created a set of stairs to nowhere for 'Deck the Halls...'.
This re-creation of a hallway came complete with Christmas Tree, hall mirror and side table and had a magical feel, as though these stairs could actually take you somewhere and that hut 11 could be a doorway to another world.

There was also something about the red carpet that spoke of the imminent arrival of royalty - a very appropriate message for Advent which is all about expectation for the coming of the King of Kings at Christmas.

We all sang the theme carol together a few times during the evening, in between enjoying the mulled wine, mince pies and each others company.

Tomorrow we move from Hove Lawns to just the other side (west side) of the King Alfred for hut 195.

Beach hut 13

Tonight was the busiest night so far as it seemed that the publicity in the press yesterday really made a difference and a lot of people came down to see what was going on.

The 1st Hove Girls' Brigade did a great job not only creating a beautiful hut but providing a fantastic choir who entertained us throughout the hour with a range of carols including the featured one - In The Bleak Midwinter.

Fortunately the bleak midwinter rain of earlier in the day stopped for our hour on the beach and we had a beautiful clear, dry evening.

The centrepiece of tonights display was the first appearance of the baby Jesus so far in our Beach Hut Advent Calendar along with a shepherd, a wise man and some lambs and the question 'What Can I Give?'. The only response we can make to the gift of God at Christmas is to give our heart and this little scene stole many people's hearts tonight.

One of the reasons this event is so popular is that people like to be reminded of the true meaning of Christmas and someone commented tonight that amidst all the fake sentiment and naked commercialism of Christmas it was nice to come to something genuine and truthful.

We look forward to more truth tomorrow at hut number 11 right down by Hove Lawns.

Beach Hut 12

The hut tonight was full of Eastern promise as the theme focussed on the travels of the wise men as they journeyed from the East. The chosen carol was From the Eastern Mountains which is not very well known, but for Rosie, Julie and Richard from the BEYOND team it evoked thoughts of the mystic East.

Taking their inspiration from the Shrine of the Nativity at Bethlehem they created a wonderfully rich environment with tapestries and swathes of material; candles and palms, turning the whole hut into a Bedouin tent. This was enhanced by the smell of burning incense and some amazingly atmospheric music from Reem Kelani, a Palestinian who some of us saw at Greenbelt this year. You can read more about her here and hear some of her music as the soundtrack to this film about Bethlehem today.

Lots of people came out tonight to enjoy the cold, clear evening and experience a little of the East. Some also came because they'd seen us featured in both the Times and the Telegraph today thanks to local photographer Andy Hasson who came along to a number of huts over the last week and took some really nice photographs.


Next up is hut 381 which is going to be decorated by the 1st Hove Girls Brigade troupe.

Beach Hut 11

It was a beautiful clear, cold night tonight which was very appropriate for the hut which had a clean, crisp snow theme to it. The carol was Good King Wenceslas when the 'snow laid round about, deep and crisp and even'.

Claire created a winter wonderland in her hut with snow over every surface, a winter tree and the poor man out collecting wood while good King Wenceslas oversaw the whole scene from his lofty perch atop the beach hut.

Everything was given a magical touch by the sparkly light from a spinning starball and strings of fairy lights hung around the hut.

Because it was so clear and still tonight it was possible to put a few more things out than we've been able to in the past and there was a whole table for children (and any adults who wanted) with a range of things to do including decorating biscuits.

We seemed to have a lot of new people come along today and it looks like there might be more publicity going out this weekend as we've been contacted by a variety of news organisations in the last few days keen to cover our story.

The next hut is 399 up by the lagoon and we believe it will have a very eastern theme.

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.