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.

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.