Daily Info's recommended events for the week ahead, Thursday 4th December - Wednesday 10th December
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Open the doors and let the avalanche of Christmas begin! But it's not all festive japes (oh no it isn't) - there's plenty of unseasonal fun too.
The holidays are finally here! Now our decorations are up, Oxford Christmas observances are in full swing. To make sure you don’t get too overwhelmed, we’re putting a dedicated Christmas section in each December EP to try to gather all the festive fun in one place, beginning with a panoply of seasonal markets.
Earth Trust Christmas Market brings together eco-friendly arts and craft (and plenty of hot choc and mulled wine) to Fison Barns’ cosy confines; ornaments, artisanal confections and an audience with Mother Christmas await you at the Botanic Gardens Christmas Fair; and over at Waterperry Gardens, the handmade craft stalls from over 50 vendors are also accompanied by horse and cart rides and a live brass band.
For Yuletide carols being sung by a choir, settle in at St Mary Magdalene, Woodstock for Commotio Oxford’s Choral Music for Advent and Christmas, with a set list spanning Motshwane Pege, Martin Read and Levente Gyöngyösi. Or if you’re ready to raise your voice and join the chorus, head to Music at Oxford’s Family Christmas Concert, set against the ornate wonders of Christ Church Cathedral - best get practicing those descants!
And lastly, a certain Mr. Scrooge will tell you that just because it’s Christmas doesn’t mean things can’t get spooky; Ghost Stories for Christmas sees storytellers Sam Pope and Cat Lawrence bring together chilling classics and their own original tales, mixing festivity with phantasmagoria.
Still working out your holiday plans for this year? Have a gander at the Daily Info Christmas Guide, with comprehensive travel info, postage dates, community dinners and even a fab recipe for mulled wine
Earth Trust Christmas Market: Earth Trust Centre, Fri 5th Dec, 6pm - 9pm, Sat 6th Dec, 10am - 4pm. Tickets £3, under 16s free.
Oxford Botanic Garden Christmas Fair: Oxford Botanic Gardens, Sat 6th - Sun 7th Dec, 10am - 6pm (4pm Sunday). Tickets £10.80 - £12 (under 16s £3, under 2s free).
Waterperry Gardens Christmas Market: Waterperry Gardens, Sat 6th - Sun 7th Dec, 10am - 4pm. Free.
Commotio Oxford: A Choral Advent Celebration: St Mary Magdalene Church, Woodstock, Sat 6th Dec, 7:30pm. Tickets £12/15 (under 16s free).
Music at Oxford Family Christmas Concert: Christ Church Cathedral, Sat 6th Dec, 2:30pm - 4:30pm. Tickets £5 - £33.
Ghost Stories for Christmas : Curio Bookshop, Tues 9th Dec, 8pm - 9:30pm. Tickets £8.
Cancel tonight’s plans - you’ve got one last chance to see Circle Mirror Transformation. In the dark confines of the Michael Pilch Studio, watch a community theatre class meet, in Annie Baker’s contemporary gem. Through repeated drama games we get to know the characters as they get to know each other, but are they learning anything about themselves? This is a must-see for fans of the tiny but epic everyday dramas of life.
Wolvercote goes full French chateau in Ben Crocker’s Beauty and The Beast. St Peter's Players present this tale as old as time....with a twist! Felix the French Poodle introduces us to an Enchanted Castle full of talking furniture, but when Ma picks a rose, Beauty must go and live with The Beast. Only true love (and Ma) can save her.
In Just, Pegasus Young Company and Technical Young Company transport us into the absurdist nightmare of Victoria, wrongly accused of a terrible crime. No-one will believe she’s innocent, and Victoria is about to learn that the law and justice are not the same thing. Ali Smith’s comedy is dark, but suitable for age 12+.
From next week the Pegasus lightens up for Supermarket Scrooge, Emma Boor’s wacky family tale about the true meaning of Christmas and the challenge of the last-minute seasonal food shop. Poor Emily Scratchett isn’t having much fun on Christmas Eve, working for her boss Wilhelmina Scrooge. But with the help of some animated veg, life is about to change! Expect trolleyloads of bad puns and great puppets, and a show that’s as much fun for grownups as children.
Circle Mirror Transformation: Michael Pilch Studio, Thu 4th Dec, 7.30pm. Tickets: £9.50 / £6.75.
Beauty and The Beast: Wolvercote Village Hall, Thur 4th - Sat 6th Dec, 7.30pm (& Sat matinee 2.30pm). Tickets: £11 (£8).
Just: Pegasus Theatre, Fri 5th - Sat 6th Dec, 7pm (& Sat matinee 4pm). Tickets: £8-£12.
Supermarket Scrooge: Pegasus Theatre, Wed 10th - Wed 24th Dec, times vary, but mostly 10.30am / 1pm / 3.30pm. Tickets: £10-£14.
Local music collective YWMP has had a particularly fruitful year in 2025, with their accessible music and performance workshops for young women and non-binary people finding a new home at The Nest. Since then they’ve hosted an eclectic and dynamic range of independent musicians, DJs and performance artists, and they close out 2025 with an end-of-year celebration in collaboration with Oxford Contemporary Music. The evening will be headlined by director Zahra Haji Fath Ali Tehrani performing cuts from her new album HALA, with support from West Papuan soundscape artist Wone Torin Wenda and techno, donk and 2000s nostalgia from DJ Macaroni99.
At the Jacqueline du Pre Music Building comes a lively exploration of music as a tool for dissent. Good Things Come to Those Who COMPLY is an evening of new compositions and performances centred on protest, state suppression and manufactured consent, with appearances from Leandro Landolina, Giuliana Tritto, Lucian Ng, Tom Bruges and more. All proceeds from the evening will be donated to Medical Aid for Palestinians.
And Divine Schism promises a night of magically good pop with Dim Wizard. David Combs’ collaborative sorcery combines offerings from fellow creatives to create a potent musical brew, supported by DIY power rockers Cheerbleederz and Oxford’s very own Spank Hair.
YWMP End of Year Celebration: The Nest, Fri 5th Dec, 7:30pm. Tickets £5 -17.
Good Things Come to Those Who COMPLY : Jacqueline Du Pré Music Building, Thu 4th Dec, 7pm - 9pm. Donations based, all proceeds go to MAP.
Dim Wizard, Cheerbleederz, Spank Hair: Common Ground Workspace, Fri 5th Dec, 7:30pm - 11pm. Tickets £8 - 12.
Hands up everyone who’s cracked out The Snowman already - this one’s for you! Keepin It Reel have sharpened their pencils and dreamt up their questions for one last quiz of this year, and of course, it’s on Xmas Movies. With the best selection of prizes (even the booby prizes are great) and the best seasonal jumpers in the business, Keepin It Reel are celebrated as The Port Mahon’s resident Quizmeisters. Come and stretch your brain cells one last time in 2025!
Too early for resolutions? Oxford Roller Derby are starting a new Rookie course on Jan 10th and there are two free taster sessions this December at Leys Leisure Centre. What’s Roller Derby? It’s a full contact sport on wheels, combining the effortless cool of roller disco with the chaotic speed of ice hockey. No skating experience is necessary, taster sessions are free, and you can borrow kit to start out. They even promise you’ll have so much fun you won’t notice you’re getting fit. Age 18+.
Altogether more meditative, OVADA are offering a day-long workshop A Time and a Place with art psychotherapist David Elliot, looking at connections to place, and how artists respond to location. Starting with an artists’ walk, by the end of the day you’ll have journeyed from sensory impressions via abstract markmaking to layered artworks and spontaneous poems.
And if you or a young person you know has a longing to tread the boards, there are loads of drama classes in Oxford, for all ages, stages, levels of commitment, or levels of confidence. A beaut this holidays is North Wall’s Christmas Cracker, a day workshop for 8-11s which includes a performance of Creation’s Nutcracker.
Looking ahead to next term, there are some really good courses, with weekly sessions building to an end-of-term performance. Creation Theatre run drama clubs for a whole variety of ages, in Wolvercote and Headington. Request a free taster session this December or in the new year. Chippy Theatre also offer classes for young people, including a Musical Theatre specialism, and there are opportunities to perform including in the panto. The North Wall run classes not just in their own gorgeous theatre but spreading out into Cutteslowe and Kidlington too. Bursary places are available to support the cost of sessions. We also love the Pegasus Theatre classes , staging full child-devised dramas in the Sharing performances at the end of each term, and giving participants a really good grounding in developing characters as well as a first taste of performance.
So far, so under 18! If you’re technically an adult and fancy a go at improv, the Awkward Actors host workshops weekly on Wednesday evenings. Any level of experience is welcome, and you won’t be put on the spot or made to feel awkward, ironically!
Keepin It Reel Xmas Quiz: The Port Mahon, Sun 7th Dec, 7pm. Entry: £2 pp.
Roller Derby Taster Sessions: Leys Pools and Leisure Centre, Sat 6th & Sat 13th Dec, 10am-12 noon. Free, 18s and over only.
A Time and a Place Workshop: OVADA Warehouse (Osney Lane), Fri 12th Dec, 10am - 3pm. For adults.
North Wall Christmas Cracker: North Wall Arts Centre, Mon 22nd Dec, 10am - 4pm. Tickets: £45 (inc. ticket to Creation’s Nutcracker). For ages 8-11. Full bursary places available.
We’ve foregone our traditional Advent Calendar this year (we’re a smaller staff than usual, have mercy!), but don’t despair! Oxford Community and Voluntary Action have created their own Christmas Countdown , with daily events and ideas on how to spread goodwill to all folk.
Running the gamut from community coffee mornings to food bank donations and fun runs, it’s a great reminder that Christmas is as much about giving as it is receiving. And it doesn’t have to end after December 25th; OCVA lists volunteering opportunities all year round for anyone wanting to get involved. Have a look at their website for one-off and regular volunteer roles, as well as trustee and specialist positions, or even train to learn brand new skills.
Image credits: Oxford Botanic Gardens, Boulevard Productions, Bethan Elford, Oxford Roller Derby, Oxford Community and Voluntary Action
