As regular readers may recall, and as I have reminded you all a few times recently, 1 December sees the beginning of my annual Advent Calendar. This runs from today every day up to and including Christmas Day, and includes some music, maybe some other videos, and an image of the day. These images usually start in poor taste and then get worse, but I’ll try not to go too far with them! I have always posted Christmas songs, initially on Twitter and then on the rather neglected Facebook page for my blog, and I also used to share an image each day on Instagram. I then had the brainwave of combining these into blog posts, and this is now the third year in this format. Previous years have been a lot of fun, and I hope this will be too. A word of warning, though: if your idea of Christmas music is wall to wall Screeching Mariah, then I’m afraid you’re in the wrong place 🤣

As things to start the party go, I can’t think of a better one than this:

Bryan Adams has given us several Christmas songs over the years, and I have played him before (and may well do so again!). This one is brand new, having been released on 31 October, and it is the ideal opener for this year’s extravaganza. A catchy tune, loads of kids having fun, and a couple of real “aah” moments: what’s not to love?

By way of contrast, today’s other tune is a long time favourite of mine, and is one which I play every year. I make no apologies for that, as it is a great song and the video is an absolute riot:

Hopefully your Christmas, when it comes, will be just as enjoyable as that, even if your family isn’t as full of ‘characters’ as theirs.

One of the bonus features that I have added into this series has been the occasional Christmas advert. I started doing this after becoming a big fan of the amazing ads created by Hafod Hardware, a shop in the mid-Wales town of Rhayader. These came to national attention when they went viral, and there were four in all, running from 2017 to 2020. Sadly, they didn’t do one last year, nor have they made one for this year. But a little bit of scouring around YouTube has allowed me to find something of a similar nature. There are quite a few who have jumped onto this bandwagon, along with all the usual suspects from big business, and I will probably play you several over the duration. Here’s one I rather like:

There must be something about Wales, as that is where you’ll find The Old Railway Line Garden Centre and Farm Shop. They are based in Powys, east Wales, and this is (I think) their third Christmas ad. They have clearly borrowed Hafod’s template, but it is great to see them doing it, and proving that you don’t need the megabucks budgets that some spend on their ads to make something charming and fun. Having said that, though, some of the well-known names will be appearing here too, as they have also entertained me with what I’ve seen on tv so far this season. Yes, it may only be 1 December, but the ads have been running for weeks!

That’s just about it for Day 1. As always, though, I’ll leave you with my image of the day:

I told you they were tasteful, didn’t I? See you again tomorrow 🎄