Covent Garden Christmas in 2014 brought two kinds of reindeer: live animals visiting the piazza by day, and a giant illuminated sculpture beside a sleigh after dark. This Roberts London film returns in the evening for the tree, market baubles and Christmas lights.
First published on 9 November 2014, the visit records the decorations and seasonal event as they were that year.
Live reindeer in the piazza
The visit begins in daylight with real reindeer gathered behind a low barrier. Visitors stand around the enclosure, watching and taking photographs, while the animals move beside buckets and baskets on the covered ground.
In the original narration I explain that the reindeer were visiting on Saturdays from noon until four during the run-up to Christmas. That information belongs to the 2014 event recorded in this film.
A festive gathering before nightfall
Handlers in bright red outfits stand beside the reindeer, with a red canopy overhead and the market shops behind them. The camera stays close to the gathering, catching antlers, winter coats and the faces of people watching.
This part of the film has a different atmosphere from the later lights walk. The animals are the centre of attention, and the decorations provide the setting. I then plan a coffee break before returning when it gets dark.
Returning for the Christmas lights
By the evening, white curtains of lights stretch across the streets leading into Covent Garden. Small red ornaments break up the bright strands, while the shop windows and street lamps add light below.
The pavement and cobbles are wet, and umbrellas appear throughout the walk. Reflections help carry the decorations down to ground level, so the route is lit above the crowd and underfoot at the same time.
The Christmas tree after dark
A large Christmas tree stands beside the piazza, covered with red and white lights. The camera looks up through its branches and then down towards the people passing its base. Dark surrounding façades make the lights stand out.
The tree is one of the two main landmarks I describe at the start of the film. The other is the giant reindeer and sleigh at the opposite end of the piazza. The walk takes in both, with the covered market between them.
Oversized baubles in the Apple Market
Inside the market, enormous red baubles hang beneath the glass and metal roof. Smaller lights follow the arches above the shops, giving the covered space a warm outline. The Apple Market sign appears beneath the suspended decorations.
Visitors move between the stalls and shopfronts, some still carrying umbrellas from outside. The film pauses on the long perspective through the hall, where the repeated baubles and lamps draw the eye along the roof.
The illuminated reindeer and sleigh
Outside again, the giant reindeer sculpture glows white above a sleigh. It is a different kind of Christmas encounter from the live animals seen earlier: fixed in place, bright against the night sky and surrounded by passing visitors.
The wet piazza reflects the sculpture and the nearby market lights. People stop to look or photograph it, while others continue across the square. The camera records the display from a distance as well as from closer viewpoints.
A walk beneath the market decorations
The route continues beneath the market roof and along the arcades. Stone columns, green-painted details and shop windows frame the decorations, with crowds moving through the narrow passages. Red baubles reappear above the visitors.
These views preserve the setting around the main attractions. The Christmas display is spread across a working shopping area, and the footage includes the ordinary movement of people between shops as well as the decorated landmarks.
One final photograph for Instagram
Near the end, I stop for a photograph of the Apple Store sign. A phone fills the foreground as I work on the image beneath the colonnade, before the film closes with a thank-you to viewers.
First published on 9 November 2014, this is a record of that season’s decorations and reindeer visit. For another year in the archive, see Covent Garden Christmas 2015, with mistletoe and LEGO decorations.
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