Burton Overy Christmas Tree Festival 2025
On Friday 5 December the large wooden door of St Andrews Church, Burton Overy, swung open to welcome people from far and wide to another spectacular Christmas Tree Festival. There were 57 Trees, beautifully decorated and lit. With titles like ‘Hats off to Christmas’, ‘A Jacobean Christmas’, ‘Upcycled’ and ‘Fairy Nuff’, there was something for everyone.
The festival is predominantly the work of our amazing village community of just over a hundred households. After over twenty years it was as good as ever. Our Village Hall always attracts a good number of quality stall holders, selling many, often handmade, items which were perfect as Christmas gifts.
On the Sunday night there was a short service, with carols, in the church surrounded by the festival Christmas trees. Those who visited over the three days were able to vote for their favourite tree. There were nearly 1400 votes, which shows how popular the event still is. “The start of Christmas”, many have said. The ladies of the village who call themselves The Burton Overy Crafters created the winning adult tree. An owling success, called ‘Oh Owly Night’!
In the junior section, the runaway winner was a Christmas Tree made of pastry ‘Pastree’ crafted by three brothers, George, Arthur, and Charlie Barbour.
Funds Raised
The Festival raised in the region of £10,000, which is divided between St Andrew’s Church, the Village Hall and the nominated charity. The charity this year was Cure Parkinson’s; 166,000 people in the UK suffer from Parkinson’s disease, including some in our village. Cure Parkinson’s is dedicated to finding a cure.
So, our villagers slept well on the Sunday night having raised considerable funds to maintain our lovely church and our much-used village hall and at the same time supporting a very worthy charity. We hope those who visited enjoyed it too!
Graham Thompson
School Choir sings in the Village!
