Last week I was invited to take a press trip to Oxfordshire and spend the late afternoon and evening experiencing the opening of Bicester Village’s Christmas campaign. We started off at Marylebone in London, hopping onto a specially converted Christmas train carriage and embarked on a special journey towards Bicester North. It was an incredible experience. When we had reached the designer outlet, we noticed that the entire outlet was fully decorated with all things Christmassy – it was like stepping into some kind of wonderland! All the buildings were lined with Christmas lights and there were so many Christmas trees all over, in large and small sizes! There was a group of guides dressed up in red, waiting to welcome us and this was followed by a delightful band putting on a brilliant dance show for us (you have to see the video below). The atmosphere was infectiously cheerful and gave everyone a feeling of elation, excitement and joy. A short speech and Bicester Village’s “Step Into The Story” Christmas campaign was officially declared open. The campaign is about inspiring friends of the village to create personal gifting stories within a fairy-tale theme, featuring magical, larger-than-life story books, mystical winter animals and seasonal food pop-ups. The entire group of press and bloggers gathered together for an outdoor reception in a VIP area to have drinks, food and a jolly good mingle.
After the break, I went down to the VIP room to meet renowned fashion illustrator Katie Rogers who created the winter wonderland themed illustrations for Bicester Village’s Christmas campaign. She was ever so charming, and looking through some of her other illustrations was mind-blowing. She has an exceptional talent, and one we could only dream of having. It was such a pleasure to spend time with Katie, who flew in all the way from New York – her home. Now it was time to go shopping! I went along with my two close friends who had specific ideas about what shops they wanted to visit but after an hour I decided to split from them for a while because I wanted to visit pretty much every single shop in the village, and have a really good browse. Browsing in the shops is something I could happily do all day, every day – I am the king of browsing! Some of my favourite shops there are Burberry, Dior, Smythson, Mulberry, Ralph Lauren and Prada. I ended up with a few bags of shopping – one of my favourite purchases was a gorgeous heart print iPad case from Burberry! The staff at Burberry were absolutely wonderful. I had asked the lady there if the iPad case was the last one left as I still wanted to browse around different shops before deciding what I wanted to buy. She said it was indeed the last one left, and kindly offered to reserve it for me until the end of the day in case I decided I wanted to buy it later. I did return later, just 5 minutes before closing time to buy it and was given such a wonderful service. The lady and her colleague also very warmly and attentively said goodbye. Little things like that goes a long way. I had so much fun at Bicester that I stayed until it had closed for the day – 8pm, and left with several bags of shopping.
The next day, I still felt very much elated and had that Christmas feeling – with butterflies in my stomach. The trip ignited the feeling of magic, and I am terribly excited about the weeks building up to Christmas Day now. Some people may complain it’s too early but for me it’s certainly isn’t too early. I love all the build-up and I like it to last. I visited over 24 shops and spoke to the delightful staff (you will notice see I even took group photos), and every one of them said they felt lucky that it felt like Christmas every day there, and I envy them! I shall definitely be coming back very soon.
Here are some key dates over the next few weeks you may be interested in:
On Thursday 6 November, Bicester Village guests are invited to experience the magic for themselves. With a host of entertainment, festive food offerings and opening until 9:00pm, the day heralds the start of Christmas at Bicester Village – the stilt walkers, drummers, mime and magician will be here to keep guests young and old entertained.
On Friday 28 November, Bicester Village will be throwing open its doors from 6pm until late for Black Friday, where guests can enjoy mulled wine and other treats, discover exclusive offers, and browse the Village’s extensive collection of brands for longer to find those perfect gifts.
Throughout the Christmas period, Bicester Village will present entertainment every Thursday afternoon. The performances will create a magical photo opportunity where guests will have the chance to interact with the performers and Step into the Story.
Every Sunday, from the 16th November until the 14th December, the Story Museum will be coming to Bicester Village to hold magical storytelling sessions for little ones. 100 golden tickets will be handed out, entitling the lucky recipients to free entry to The Story Museum in Oxford.
If you like Christmas and don’t have the Christmas feeling yet, a visit to Bicester Village will do it for you. I guarantee it. Now watch the video below!
