Festive fatigue getting you down?

Mistletoe and mulled wine, wreaths and baubles, Christmas really is the biggest event of the business year.  I love Christmas, the cosy evenings and the decorated trees with twinkling lights… but is it all too much too soon, and does all this just result in festive fatigue?

Traditionally Christmas begins in December and advent is the build-up, but lots of people leap in much earlier – the moment the pumpkins are away, it’s Christmas! Coming from working in retail, I know that Christmas can start even earlier than consumers are aware of, with planning and preparation starting as early as June. Growing up in my house, you could only start talking about Christmas after my brother’s birthday in November, because up until then it was still ‘birthday time’ and with my sister’s birthday on the Epiphany, it bookended the Christmas season quite nicely.

On the one hand, the build-up has become a bigger event than actual Christmas Day: decorating our homes, partaking in Christmas activities like making gingerbread houses, watching Christmas movies… the list goes on! However, if a 6th of the year is ‘Christmas’, is it really that special anymore? Or has Christmas just become synonymous with winter? This prolonged build up is also very important in terms of marketing, as it allows for brands to plant ideas much earlier that people can remember, as well as encouraging consumers to buy early and avoid any of the almost guaranteed delivery delays.  

On the other hand, people start to get bored of the constant Christmas messaging, and I’m definitely one of them! With Christmas creeping earlier and earlier each year, it can feel like you are wishing the year away; we’re far more invested in an event happening months later than we are in the here and now. I’ve been in shops where they have had their Christmas products in stock as early as August, meaning they are expecting a 5 month build up. I do want to say, if my dad is reading this, I do still love an October mince pie! We all know that feeling when you hear the first Christmas song of the year (probably in November if you’re really lucky) and think “already?”.

Caitlin Moran recently wrote an article in The Times discussing festive fatigue, but introduced an interesting point about charity shops and the significance of having donations before Christmas so people can buy presents without breaking the bank. So, if you’re thinking of having a clear out, get your donations in ASAP.

So, is there really any avoiding festive fatigue? The answer is probably no, unless you plan on shutting yourself away from the world until the 1st of December. There certainly isn’t much of a chance that Christmas will be a smaller event in the next few years! My plan is to just go by my own timings, so put up your Christmas tree when you want to, start to watch Christmas movies when you feel like it, or pretend we still have nice weather for as long as possible (although this strategy currently has a success rate below zero…).

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