Festive season fever is already high at Sam Levy’s village in Borrowdale with advanced preparations in place for customers to celebrate the Christmas holidays while enjoying a shopping experience.

Those who have shopped at the village at Christmas time in the past know that the complex puts on a colourful and festive display for kids, their parents, and the young at heart. This year is no different, with a few additions as businesses aim to entice customers through their doors to do their Christmas shopping.

As usual customers can look forward to the the annual switching on of the Village Christmas lights on the night of Friday 4 December at 7pm. Village administration manager, Charles Kapfupi, has confirmed that the annual village programme of Christmas treats for kids will carry on again this year.

“We have no plans to add anything new. Our aim is improve on the usual line-up to ensure the kids get an exceptional experience every year as we continue to maintain our standards.” said Kapfupi.

This year, the village programme includes the following activities designed specifically for kids:

The Pied Piper: a clown blowing a vuvuzela walking around the village. Children are encouraged to follow him and at the end of the walk, each child will receive a Christmas present.

Christmas Art Express: a Christmas-themed art drawing competition at St. Elmo’s and Edgars. Winning entries will be displayed outside the Ster-Kinekor theatre gallery. A portion of proceeds go to charity.

Christmas Carols: Enjoy traditional Christmas songs and hymns performed by various ensembles.

Santa’s Meeting Corner: Come and sit on Santa’s lap and get a Christmas present.

In the Christmas spirit, Holly and Christmas garlands decorate the pavements and exteriors of most village shops. Kids can look forward to a Christmas tree and Santa Claus’s treats at Santa’s Corner set up in front of Elora’s place near the liquorice store. Santa will be giving away presents and taking pictures starting from the fourth of December at 7.15pm till 9:15pm. On Saturday 5 December, Santa will be there for the young kids at 10:00 am till 12 pm and again on Saturday 12 December and Tuesday 19 December at the same time.

Enjoy Christmas carols by the North side Community Church at the clock tower, and performances by the Salvation Army choir at Danielle’s Plaza, and the Christmas cheer of a 16 string quartet at Elora’s place.

Christmas is also importantly about food and the village has something special lined up for all those looking for delicious Christmas fare. Miller’s Café is promising a special menu for its customers. Café manager Mr Emmanuel Marongwe confirmed that their Christmas specials will include a free venue for those wanting to get married as well as end of year company dinner parties. These Christmas specials run from now until the end of the festive season.

“Our Christmas lunch will have larger portions. We are still working on our Christmas menu but as it stands, our appetizers include chicken terrine, chicken fillets stuffed with apples and white wine wrapped in bacon served with a light chutney mayonnaise and side salad. For the main course, a duo of traditional ham and festive turkey, roast turkey and traditional honey glazed ham served with seasonal vegetables, roast potatoes and traditional gravy. To finish off the meal, dessert will include a Christmas pudding and mince pies.” said Marongwe.

Manhattan Interiors is already in the Christmas spirit and have lowered the prices of selected lounge suites to $1,000 from the normal $1,500 and higher. Other shops will have Christmas specials lined up which were unconfirmed at the time of going to press.

Security is being beefed up with a larger hygiene team in place to manage cleanliness as huge crowds are expected. More lighting will be added to the parking lot to ensure customers can safely enjoy their festive season as some events are scheduled to stretch late into the night.

As this is the rainy season, remember to bring your umbrella!