christmas

This Monday (9th December) saw a wonderfully festive celebration in St James' Park.

It promised to be one of the UK’s biggest carol services, transforming the home of Exeter’s football club into a hub of festive cheer.

The stadium filled up in a matter of minutes, as more than 3,500 locals and students flocked to sing a selection of traditional carols and hear about the meaning of Christmas. It was a real joy to see so many people, of all ages, wrapped up and enjoying themselves (and the free mince pies)!

The concert marked the 10th anniversary of the Evangelical...

Police in Torquay have released CCTV stills of a group of men they would like to speak to in connection with the vandalism of a Christmas fair in the town.

Christmas lights, attached to nine market huts outside the Town Hall, are seen on CCTV being attacked by the four men in the early hours of Sunday 8 December.

The men are also seen ripping the paper off one of the huts which had been made up to look like a giant Christmas present.

Police are now trying to identify four men who left the harbourside area around 3.50am on 8 December and walked up through the town...

A Devon charity is raising money this Christmas by selling a very special chocolate.

Paignton Zoo, a registered education, science and conservation charity, is believed to be one of the first zoos in the UK to stock Madecasse Chocolate, made from the finest Madagascan cocoa.

Paul Bellingham, of Paignton Zoo, said: “This is really special, as most chocolate is processed outside Africa. It’s a perfect product for us to sell – made from shade-grown cocao, harvested without damaging natural forest habitat, it generates jobs and money for local people in a developing economy....

South Molton’s fifth Christmas Fatstock Show was held on Sunday 8 December, as part of the town’s Big Christmas Festival weekend. The Christmas Fatstock Show is firmly rooted in agriculture and any visitor to it experiences a real taste of the area’s farming tradition. This is the one day of the year that sees the Pannier Market returning to its roots, with pens of sheep (and carcasses) beingshown and subsequently auctioned on the day. Mr Ron Tapp and his son Andrew took the Championship once again, as they did in 2011. As sheep are such an important part of agriculture on Exmoor (with...

East Devon District Council is supporting local shops over Christmas with a range of special car park deals for motorists, including a chance to win a ‘Golden Ticket’ offering three months’ free parking.

This is on top of a decision by EDDC’s Cabinet last week to freeze the basic hourly pay and display parking charges for the fourth consecutive year.

Here are EDDC’s Christmas 2013 Parking Offers in full:

All Pay and Display car parks, Saturday 7 December 2013

This is “Small Business Saturday” and customers are being encouraged to park in any East Devon car...

Each year South Molton’s Big Christmas Festival (which runs the first weekend in December), is based on all the elements of a great, traditional, country Christmas. However, the organisers, South Molton Business Association (SMBA) also like to introduce new items and for 2013, one of these will be the Schools’ Art Expo. This will be a free event, where pictures and other creative offerings from local schools will be on view in the town’s elegant Georgian Assembly Rooms.

The Art Expo was the idea of David Walker, the SMBA member who also co-ordinates the children’s Friday Night...

It’s very nearly the season to be jolly - and traders are being encouraged to become festive and get ahead of the game by booking their slot in Newton Abbot’s second year of Christmas Street Fayres.

Born Hectic Events, the organisers of last year's successful event, has once again teamed up with Teignbridge District Council and Newton Abbot Town Development Manager Sally Henley to put on two evenings of shopping, music and entertainment. The Street Fayres are back by popular demand on Wednesday 11 December and Wednesday 18 December.

Both run from 6pm - 9pm. Ahead of that,...

We might like to think we are environmentally friendly but what does it mean when we say we are ‘green’? In reality we probably mean different things which can be seen as a spectrum of colour… So what might this mean if applied to thinking about a low carbon Christmas?

Being Light Green is what might be termed acting in enlightened self-interest by taking small actions that are generally beneficial. For instance, changing to energy efficient light bulbs, turning down the thermostat or heating valves, recycling, wildlife conservation, saving water all help to reduce impact on the...