Nicosia municipality is going all out for Christmas with more events than ever
Until relatively recently, the only way to feel any level of Christmas cheer was to jet off to London, Paris, or any other brightly lit city. Not quite a festive paradise, central Nicosia during the holiday period was a bit like a bad movie set that tries its best to recreate a certain atmosphere, but fails miserably.
While a few decorations dangled from the trees lining Makarios Avenue, there wasn’t very much else to remind Nicosians that the ‘season to be jolly’ had arrived. No one would have imagined that one day the capital city would boast a kids’ fairytale land complete with a brightly lit carousel, sparkling decorations by contemporary designers on almost every street corner, and Christmas carols blaring from every shop and department store.
This year, the Nicosia municipality is going all out for Christmas with more events than ever. Three areas in the city centre will form the focal point of celebrations – Eleftherias Square, the pedestrian area of Onasagorou Street all the way down to Faneromeni, and the main shopping area of Makarios Avenue.
“Christmas celebrations are moving to new locations this year,” says Nicosia mayor, Eleni Mavrou. “We wanted to place more emphasis on the areas near Ledra Street with a focus on the beautiful Faneromeni Church. They’ll be a lot of carol singing and children’s events like puppet and shadow theatre taking place here.”
But it’s not just the location of the festivities that’s changing, it’s also the way in which the whole city has been decorated that’s different this year.
“We’ve focused on the beauty and points of reference in the capital, lighting up certain special monuments like the Hamam, Famagusta gate, and various parks,” says Mavrou.
While events kicked off with the lighting of the Christmas tree on December 1, they’ll be plenty to excite the whole family all the way through to the New Year.
Here are some of the highlights:
Probably the most exciting is the introduction of a fantastic hot air balloon that will be giving families the chance to see Nicosia from above between 4pm and 10pm daily. “We saw this as a nice festive idea to take people closer to the stars at night, with up to twenty individuals being able to fit in the balloon at any one time,” says Mavrou. Starting point is at the parking place opposite the Holiday Inn.
If you have children, the fairytale town that has come to life in the moat between Eleftheria and Solomou squares has become an essential Christmas family ritual. Apart from the carousel ride, there are all sorts of other events taking place here daily with orchestras, magicians, story telling and theatre performances. There’s even a pirate ship, train and Christmas crib to delight the kids. The fairy land is open daily, closing at 10pm on weekdays and 11pm on weekends.
Also not to be missed is a face painting event next Saturday where children can choose what character or animal they would like to be for the day as the American International School sings choral songs, followed by a puppet show by Frederick University. All this will be taking place at lunch time down Onasagorou and Faneromeni Streets.
If you fancy some entertainment while you fill your shopping bags, next Saturday and Sunday there will be an all singing and dancing extravaganza down Makarios Avenue. Parts of the street will be closed off to make way for clowns, men on stilts, Rebel Dancers, and plenty of choir performances.
But all the fun doesn’t end here. In fact, there will be something going on every day as the countdown to Christmas continues. Choirs and orchestras will be giving performances throughout the following weeks, while radio stations will be playing Christmas tracks with live links down town.
“Things have changed and Nicosia is ready to show everyone a good time, full of excitement, music, and plenty of events,” Mavrou says.
We may not be quite ready to say ‘London eat your heart out’, but at least those miserable bits of tinsel and lonely strings of half-broken lights of yesteryear are long gone.
Nicosia Christmas Celebrations
With hot air balloon rides, a fairy tale town for the young ones, puppet shows and a great number of choirs, bands and orchestras performing on most days. Main events at Eleftheria Square, pedestrian area of Onasagorou Street all the way down to Faneromeni, as well as Makarios Avenue. Until the New Year. If you want to look at the full schedule of events, simply log onto www.nicosia.org.cy.
