Beach Hut 9

Hut 395 reminded us of the Las Posadas theme that started us on our journey to Bethlehem with an enormous Mexican styled angel which completely filled the hut.

The space was so filled with angel that the light decorations had to spill out beyond the hut onto the floor in front and be suspended from a jib attached to the roof that jutted out giving a festive light display of colourful lanterns.


The floor was a sea of poinsettias placed on a bright stripy Mexican style rug and reminding us of our first night when St. Christopher's school taught us the story of the miracle of how these plants came to be associated with Christmas.


We even had a Mexican guest on hand, complete with sombrero and moustache and alongside the usual mulled wine and mince pies we were served empanadas in a variety of flavours.


Star shaped pinatas around the head of the angel and the words Angelos Cantado Estan (the angels sing) helped us to realise that every culture has their understanding of angels and God which don't necessarily centre around pure white and gold starlight as they do here in the UK.


As is always true every night, it was the children who gazed on the scene with awe and amazement who directed our thoughts to the wonder and beauty of a God who came to earth as a child on that first Christmas day.

Next up is hut 402 which is going to focus on a particular angel.

Beach Hut 8

While the folks in Scotland were being told to stay indoors because of the strong winds, us hardy southerners set out for the beach for the latest hut in our journey to Christmas. The wind blew and for a short time the rain came down but that didn't deter the brave souls who came out tonight wrapped up against the harsh weather or swaddling themselves in blankets a beautiful shade of Maryan blue.

Our destination tonight was Bethlehem and Felicity and her gang at the White House produced a beautiful village scene with little houses made out of modelling clay (which was just as well as anything lighter would have blown away!).

Inside each house was a little light flickering in welcome. All the houses sat on a bed of sand which was lit a golden yellow by the street light just in front of hut 403, making the scene look almost sunny.

We were fortunate to have the use tonight of hut 402 as well because this was needed for shelter on occasion. This will feature again on Saturday night when we're hoping we won't have to use 403 as shelter in the same way!

Our next hut is very close to this one so is still up by Hove Lagoon as it is number 395.

Beach Hut 7

The Christmas story is full of angels cropping up in all kinds of circumstances and tonight was the first time they featured in our story.

Hut 73 was put together by a group of people from All Saints church in Hove with angel wings and angel lights decorating everything. The design stretched out beyond the hut creating a kind of landing pad for any stray angels who hadn't been able to find their way home.

This was the first hut this year to feature singing as members of the church sang carols although we didn't sing Hark the Herald Angels Sing. In between singing the performers warmed themselves up with the mulled wine on offer.

The hut floor was filled with jars of light surrounding a central angel who could have been directing operations. We will hear more about archangels later in the month.



The next hut is at the opposite end of the promenade near the lagoon and is number 403.

Beach Hut 6

Our 6th Beach Hut this year saw the introduction of the first shepherd to our Christmas journey. As it happened, there were in fact multiple shepherds with multiple sheep as visitors were invited to pose for photographs behind the artwork. Flo Pepper from our team designed the interior for tonight, a very apt piece for Brighton seafront. Such was the popularity of the interactive installation, it's only a wonder it has never been done before.

The cold sea air and strong winds were quickly forgotten by the excited children when they realised they could dart behind the screen and command the attention of onlookers as a shepherd. In fact, it wasn't just the children who enjoyed doing this! There was a great turnout, with lots of people queuing up to have their photo taken whilst braving the elements, like the real shepherds all those years ago.

The Christmas carols, mulled wine and mince pies made for the usual happy atmosphere, which was complemented wonderfully by hut owners Maggy Luxford and her husband - a huge thank you to them for the seating and flood lights.

Our next hut will see the first of many angels along the journey, in hut 73.

Beach Hut 5

Our journey towards Christmas really got moving today as the theme at hut 357a was travelling. Cathy Watts has been a regular beach hut advent calendar participant over the last three years and for tonight she created a little scene with Mary and Joseph setting out for Bethlehem being pulled along by a cute little donkey.

The overall colour theme reminded us of Mary as everything was lit with gentle blue light and the hut was dressed with little homely touches. We were reminded that Mary and Joseph left the comfort of their home to make this journey despite the imminent birth.

As well as the usual mince pies and mulled wine there were also biscuits and chocolates and room for people to sit and enjoy the view.

Tomorrow we move down near The View to hut number 227.

Beach Hut 4

Tonight we were treated to the beauty of starlight both real in the sky and imagined by artist Nick Sayers in hut 79a. Nick makes everyday objects such as cable ties, coathangers, plastic bottles and bicycle reflectors, beautiful by turning them into spherical sculptures which glow with internal light.

The simplicity of these objects spoke powerfully of the simple trust shown by those who followed the star at that first Christmas and the way God can transform the ordinary into the extraordinary.

The interplay of light and shadow in and around the hut created a wonderful atmosphere as the children ran around, carols played and the crowd gathered to wonder at the star and the miracle of light shining through the darkness.

There was a calmness and serenity about the event tonight as we watched the waves roll under a glistening moon and fall onto the beach. This was emphasised by the wide promenade and the broad expanse of Hove Lawns behind Fiona MacFarlane's hut which was the perfect setting for these sculptures which seemed very at home.

Our next hut is back towards the lagoon and is number 332.

Beach Hut 3

The third hut in this year's calendar took Mary's preparation as the theme and particularly focussed on the Annunciation. Mary sat in the hut very serene and peaceful, absorbing the knowledge that she had received from the angel and contemplating what this meant for her future. She wore a halo of stars which reminded us of the crown of thorns and underneath her blue rob was a little sash of red as a foretaste of the pain that was to come.

The walls of the hut were lined in white and some of the words of the Magnificat, Mary's song after receiving the news from the angel, were written up and people were invited to step into the hut and add their own words.

The doors were not fully open and the outside of the hut was dressed with colourful flowers and other decorations symbolising the contrast between the external understanding of Christmas with all it's fun and festivity and our own internal preparation to meet the Christ child.
Alongside this we had the second of our specially commissioned nativity characters. We will bring out one of these every night and assemble them all together for the first time on Christmas Eve to make a unique nativity scene.

Our next hut is number 79a and will be on a Star theme with light sculptures from local artist Nick Sayers.

Beach Hut 2

Tonight we began our journey to Christmas in earnest by focussing on Joseph. Tradition has it that Joseph was quite an old man when the events of the first Christmas took place and it must have been quite an inconvenience for him to have to leave his work and home to go to Bethelehem for the census.

At hut 268 we got some sense of that as we saw his workshop abandoned while he went for lunch but still showing us something of the things that he might have been interested in.

A beautiful, clean wooden star carved out of a single block of wood, tools all neatly arranged on shelves, angels watching over the work with a backdrop of stars and a little basket full of offcuts of wood with the words love, light and peace carved into them.

There was a sense of peace and calm about the hut tonight, helped by the better weather and a cold and crisp night. A feeling that Joseph could take anything in his stride and in a workmanlike, measured way would be able to work out what to do with a mysteriously pregnant fiance a journey to Bethlehem without quite knowing what was going to happen at the end.

Tomorrow we'll be looking at Mary getting ready at hut 357a.

Beach Hut 1

Launch night for the 2011 Beach Hut Advent Calendar and there was lots going on and lots to talk about. The hut was decorated by St. Christopher's School in Hove who did a fantastic job and supported the whole evening with the school choir singing carols and the youngest children singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star in Spanish (more explanation about that later).

The hut was a riot of colour as it was filled with papier mache cacti, chillis, paper poinsettias and a baby Jesus in a manger in the middle. This was because the inspiration for our huts this year begins with a Mexican tradition called Las Posadas - a 9 day representation of the journey made by the Holy Family which you can read about here. The children have been learning about the miracle of the poinsettia when a poor girl went to visit church to see the manger and her meagre present of weeds she'd gathered on the way turned into beautiful red flowers.

Our version of this after tonights introduction is to focus on one character every evening, adding to the story each night through December so that we follow the same journey taken by Mary and Joseph until we reach the birth of Jesus on Christmas Day. We will have one character on display each night and will bring all these together on Christmas Eve for the first time to make our own nativity scene.

The talk of the evening unfortunately was the rain which persisted all afternoon and all evening and deterred the BBC from covering the event. ITV did brave the weather and were all set up to broadcast live at 6.15pm but there was a problem with the transmission and so the report has been saved over until tomorrow.


Despite the terrible weather, hundreds of people turned out to support their children and to support the launch of this fourth annual beach hut event.


Our next hut will focus on Joseph as one of the key travellers in our journey towards Christmas and is number 268.