What can visitors look forward to this year at Standen?
Standen epitomises everything you imagine about a traditional family Christmas: a cosy feel, warm rooms, the family gathering all together, presents, dancing, Christmas trees and family fun. We are recreating these ideals through our ‘Beale Family Christmas’ this year as Standen is a family house and everything that you could wish for as the setting for a festive gathering. It’s very exciting to be creating something new for visitors to enjoy. We will be imagining all the Beale family coming together to celebrate Christmas, and will be using our archive to tell the story of how the family used the house, what sort of celebrations they had, the parties that occurred, the people who came and the activities they enjoyed.
When do you begin to plan for Christmas at Standen?
We have been thinking about Christmas since last Christmas, really. There have been many meetings along the way, including brainstorming sessions when we invited all our volunteers to hear their thoughts, as they always contribute valuable and interesting ideas. Christmas planning really begins in earnest at the end of August though, and then it will be all go from September onwards with the preparations.
A Beale Family Christmas Sat 20 Nov 2021– Sun 2 Jan 2022