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Festive Fun @ Royal Armouries Fort Nelson

If Christmas shopping has left you without two ha'pennies to rub together and your Christmas spirit in short supply, enjoy a day of family festivities @ Royal Armouries Fort Nelson on Sunday 17 December. As it was the Victorians who most influenced the way we celebrate Christmas today, this Victorian Fort provides the ideal setting for all the traditional Christmas celebrations including music, carols, Dickensian drama plus a special music hall comedy show.

There will be a chance to get into the Christmas spirit with a sing along at the Christmas carol concert, accompanied by a live brass band. Plus a Victorian street musician will bring along a fascinating array of unusual Victorian instruments including a concertina, melodeon, dulcimer and even the English bagpipes! There will also be some novel gifts on offer as the Victorian craft lady knits some traditional Christmas stockings and garments.

The heart warming classic A Christmas Carol will be performed with a comic twist in the Victorian kitchen, barrack room and restored officer's rooms. This will be a chance to see the plush upstairs of the Fort, an area not usually open to visitors. Victorian Vegetables at War from puppet theatre Ancient Wisdom tells the story of the battle of Rorke's Drift as you've never seen it before! Featuring a cast of aubergines and carrots as the cast of redcoats and Zulus. All shows and entertainment will be performed regularly throughout the day so there will be plenty of opportunity to see all the festivities.

The lively Victorian soldiers of The Portsdown Artillery Volunteers will man the magazines under the Fort. When off duty, find them skiving in the kitchen drinking tea. Daisy and Gladys will be cooking on the range in the Victorian kitchen, working hard to produce a Christmas dinner for the garrison officers - as long as the soldiers don't keep badgering them for tea! There will also be a special recreation of the 1914 Christmas truce when British and German troops laid down their arms and celebrated together in 'no-mans' land.

There is also an activity day for children on Thursday 21 December which will include Punch and Judy plus have a go craft sessions where you can make your own reindeer mask or Christmas tree decoration (there is a small charge to cover the cost of materials).

Please note that for performances of the Victorian Comedy show and A Christmas Carol there will be a charge of £1 per person. Tickets can be purchased on the day (charges apply from age five years).

For further details please visit www.royalarmouries.org/visit/fortnelson and click What's On.

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Media contacts: Emma Gilmore, Mark Selwood Tel: 01329 848520/233734

E-mail: emma.gilmore@armouries.org.uk