{"id":18745,"date":"2021-12-08T13:51:47","date_gmt":"2021-12-08T12:51:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/?p=18745"},"modified":"2021-12-02T16:53:39","modified_gmt":"2021-12-02T15:53:39","slug":"a-student-guide-to-free-christmas-activities-dorset-2021","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/2021\/12\/08\/a-student-guide-to-free-christmas-activities-dorset-2021\/","title":{"rendered":"A student guide to free Christmas activities: Dorset 2021"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>SO&#8230; It\u2019s our first Christmas since the pandemic, and those who choose to celebrate the holiday can finally have more freedom this year-round. National restrictions last year meant that Bournemouth and Poole&#8217;s Christmas markets and lights were limited, and events were postponed, which means this year can be twice as more exciting.<\/p>\n<p>For students, saving money and budgeting is always key. Therefore, this blog will help you plan Christmas-related days out in our local area, all free to visit!<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Bournemouth&#8217;s Alpine Market<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Located in the Bournemouth Square and open until early January 2022, the Alpine Market is free to visit and offers a variety of festivities. From handmade gifts, luxury hot chocolates and even a Yorkshire pudding-wrap stand, the market gives you a warm, thrilling feeling as you walk past numerous wooden huts. Down below is a list of some of the stalls on offer that caught my eye&#8230;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Food Stalls<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>El Murrino<\/strong>\u00a0offers homemade Neapolitan style pizza. They feature classic Italian toppings as well as including vegetarian and vegan options.<\/li>\n<li>If you fancy something sweeter,\u00a0<strong>Churros Kings<\/strong>\u00a0provide giant churros with a variety of flavours and topping such as cinnamon, milk, dark and white chocolate.<\/li>\n<li>The food stand I was most excited by was the\u00a0<strong>Yorkshire pudding Wrap Co<\/strong>\u00a0what features different roasts wrapped in one giant Yorkshire pudding.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Neals &amp; Son Hog Roast\u00a0<\/strong>offers a classic spit-roasted pork for meat-lovers that can be served with hot crackling, stuffing and an array of tasty sauces.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div id=\"attachment_18772\" style=\"width: 354px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/files\/2021\/11\/IMG_1397-2.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-18772\" class=\"wp-image-18772\" src=\"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/files\/2021\/11\/IMG_1397-2-300x178.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"344\" height=\"204\" srcset=\"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/files\/2021\/11\/IMG_1397-2-300x178.jpg 300w, https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/files\/2021\/11\/IMG_1397-2.jpg 707w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 344px) 100vw, 344px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-18772\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Opening day of The Alpine Market. 19th Nov 2021.<\/p><\/div>\n<p><strong>Gift Stands<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>The Scenterella\u00a0<\/strong>stall offers handmade, vegan-friendly candles that are ideal for stocking fillers!<\/li>\n<li>If you&#8217;re looking to purchase some local, sustainable food items,\u00a0<strong>Dorset<\/strong>\u00a0<strong>Chilli\u00a0<\/strong>provides a wide range of chilli products such as jams, sauces, oils and much more from British craft producers.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><strong>Christmas Tree Wonderland<\/strong><\/h3>\n<div id=\"attachment_18781\" style=\"width: 330px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/files\/2021\/11\/IMG_1398-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-18781\" class=\"wp-image-18781\" src=\"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/files\/2021\/11\/IMG_1398-1-300x211.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"320\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/files\/2021\/11\/IMG_1398-1-300x211.jpg 300w, https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/files\/2021\/11\/IMG_1398-1-768x539.jpg 768w, https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/files\/2021\/11\/IMG_1398-1.jpg 828w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 320px) 100vw, 320px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-18781\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The neon entrance sign &#8211; a great photo opportunity!<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Whilst visiting the Alpine Market, the Lower Gardens are packed with beautiful Christmas lights.<\/p>\n<p>I really recommend talking a wonderful wander through the Wonderland to admire the 5m lit up tree, a gold reindeer, a giant bauble and much more!\u00a0The gardens are completely free to visit and offer great Instagrammable backgrounds.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_18776\" style=\"width: 227px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/files\/2021\/11\/IMG_1400.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-18776\" class=\" wp-image-18776\" src=\"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/files\/2021\/11\/IMG_1400-236x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"217\" height=\"276\" srcset=\"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/files\/2021\/11\/IMG_1400-236x300.jpg 236w, https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/files\/2021\/11\/IMG_1400-806x1024.jpg 806w, https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/files\/2021\/11\/IMG_1400-768x976.jpg 768w, https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/files\/2021\/11\/IMG_1400.jpg 828w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 217px) 100vw, 217px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-18776\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A walk through colour-changing tree at the Christmas Tree Wonderland which also plays music in the evening.<\/p><\/div>\n<h3><strong>Poole Christmas Craft Fair<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>On 11<sup>th<\/sup> December at Blandford Road, Poole, a Christmas Craft Fair takes place 2pm-4:30pm. The fair is free to visit and gives you a chance to visit local crafters.<\/p>\n<p>This fair includes:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Stalls selling handmade gifts which can be the perfect secret Santa gift.<\/li>\n<li>A raffle that will be raising money for charity.<\/li>\n<li>Carol singers!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>I personally have been super impressed as a 2nd year student having seen the Christmas Market and lights for the first time ever due to the pandemic last year. There&#8217;s such a variety of Christmas events in Bournemouth with the plus that they\u2019re free to visit too!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>SO&#8230; It\u2019s our first Christmas since the pandemic, and those who choose to celebrate the holiday can finally have more freedom this year-round. National restrictions last year meant that Bournemouth and Poole&#8217;s Christmas markets and lights were limited, and events were postponed, which means this year can be twice as more exciting. For students, saving&#8230;  <a class=\"excerpt-read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/2021\/12\/08\/a-student-guide-to-free-christmas-activities-dorset-2021\/\">Read more &raquo;<span class=\"sr-only\"> about A student guide to free Christmas activities: Dorset 2021<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3420,"featured_media":18773,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1646,1663,12,704,1638],"tags":[1697,272,270],"class_list":["post-18745","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-area","category-postgraduate","category-student-blogs","category-student-life","category-undergraduate","tag-alpine-christmas-market","tag-bournemouth-christmas-market","tag-christmas-in-bournemouth"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18745","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3420"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18745"}],"version-history":[{"count":24,"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18745\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18908,"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18745\/revisions\/18908"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18773"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18745"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18745"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/student-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18745"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}