Christmas seems to feel different for a lot of people this year, perhaps its the ongoing cost of living crisis to blame, or maybe there are still some impacts on families since Covid, we’re not certain. Last year we were too busy to run the Christmas competition unfortunately, but after we saw a few disappointed comments, and recognising that people needed a bit of a lift, we decided to run the competition again for 2024.
There have been a lot of other things going on this year to help boost the Christmas spirit in Wixams too. The Wixams Events Group ran a grotto at the Winter Wonderland as usual, then another grotto a couple of weeks later on 15th December. To promote the grotto and also to spread some joy, Santa took evening walks around our town, giving sweeties and warm wishes to all the kiddies who came out to meet him. The Grinch has been doing his rounds again this year too, causing mischief, turning off Christmas lights, giving out Brussels sprouts and spreading even more joy! This year Santa and the Grinch even put on a special show for some special kids on one street in Wixams, bringing a burst of fun and community spirit for those in need 🎅🏻❤️
Check out Wixams Santa Watch and Wixams Grinch Watch to see what they’ve been up to this year.
The Thank Yous
Wixams has some amazing people who really care about our community. As a new-build town full of people from different parts of the country (mostly Luton it seems!), it’s so important for us all to work to get to know one another and to create a thriving place for us all to live for years to come. These events and competitions take time and energy to put together and it’s ALL done by volunteers.
We’d like to firstly thank the Events Group, Wixams’ resident Santas (Vinny and Rob) and the Grinch (not telling 😝) for being epic and making a huge difference to many people this year. Thanks also go to Wixams Parish Council and Welcome Co-op for their donations for the first prize for our competition, and D&D Painting and Decorating who offered us more goodies for another hamper as the second prize, which we gratefully accepted! Faye at Spirited Intent put together the fab Christmas themed hampers, thank you Faye. Yet again the legendary Asan (Tu Plus Tu Photography tuandtu.com) took all the amazing photos of all the entrants below. And last but definitely not least, thanks go to the judges: Lucy, Paula, Rob, Sam, Adriana, Deb, Leon and Rich.
The Judging
We ask our judges to select their top three homes, in order, and then we award 1, 2 or 3 points for each nomination. The winner is the home with the most total points. However, with so many amazing displays it can be challenging to judge these competitions and to pick just three. We like to let the judges set their own standards on what they like, and we deliberately make sure to have enough judges to make things as fair as we can.
The only comment we make is that we ask the judges to factor in the size of the home. Bigger houses create a bigger canvas, and the homeowners tend to have a bit more money to spend on decorations too. So we do take care to pay attention to the details of the smaller displays, and we have seen people make excellent use of the small space available.
The Prizes
We had two prizes this year. First prize was a great hamper from Welcome Co-op and a £100 John Lewis gift card from Wixams Parish Council. The second prize, donated by D&D Painting and Decorating, was another great hamper of goodies. Both hampers are pictured below.
Runner Up
Our runner up this year was this home on Thistle Lane. The judges commented on how classy and elegant it looked, and that it was a display they would love to have in front of their own homes. Well done, we hope you enjoy your hamper!
The Winners
There were 19 entrants in this years competition and they were all great, but there was just something about this display that made it stand out and it received more than double the points of the next best home. The display makes such good use of the space available and is filled with lots of bright colours and fab inflatables. There’s lots going on in the display but it’s not too busy meaning you can better appreciate all the decorations and lights.
One of the judges commented that whilst the runner up home appealed to her as an adult, they could imagine a child seeing this house and feeling the excitement, seeing all the lights and decorations, and just jumping up and down knowing that Santa was coming soon!
Fantastic work, we hope you enjoy your prize and it helps make your Christmas extra special 🥂
Other Entrants
Here’s some great snaps of the other entrants this year. Commiserations to them all, and we hope they’ll enter our competitions again in the future. The judges commented that all the displays were great and they passed on their thanks to all the houses that entered the competition, the effort that each house put into the decorations brought a lift to our community spirit 👏
Past Competitions
You can find some fantastic photos of the previous competitions on the pages below: