Bridgemas – cringy or quirky?

Whether you break out the tinsel the minute the trick or treaters stop knocking or refuse to put your tree up until Christmas Eve, there’s no denying that the festive season is a magical time of year.

It seems an awful shame that we don’t get to celebrate this exciting time in such a beautiful city.

Solution? Cram a load of events into November and slap on a suitably Cambridge-related made-up name to make the dreary final weeks of term seem more fun.

Bridgemas ≠ Christmas

Whilst I’m all up for using any excuse to celebrate, slapping a Christmas tree in the corner of the dining hall and an inflatable Santa in the JCR doesn’t mean you can ignore the fact that it isn’t actually the Christmas season yet.

There’s just something not quite right about the sudden appearance of Christmas decorations on the 15th of November with the smell of fireworks still hanging in the air and tourists wandering around town checking their calendars to make sure they’ve come in the right month.

What a lovely unseasonable Christmas tree (Image credit: Leah Whiting)

Too little, too late

Everybody knows the downtrodden feeling that suddenly hits you after weeks 5 and 6 have rolled over you like a truck. As the sudden desire to go home settles in, its perfectly reasonable to look for something you can channel your energy into other than work in the hope of having a good time.

Enter Bridgemas.

However, don’t you think it’d be better to offer people an alternative to the week 5 stress whilst it’s happening, rather than forcing them to celebrate something they’re going to have to experience for a whole month at home with little else to do?

The only way I got through week 5 (Image credit: Leah Whiting)

Silent night? Yeah right

Although I can admit that some aspects of Bridgemas can be fun, there’s just something not quite right about hearing carols in November.

Carols are barely tolerable at the best of times. Whilst they’re expected on certain occasions – Christmas Eve, Christmas formals, etc – the corridor of your accommodation at 3am is certainly not one of those.

Ok, I will admit these lights are quite nice (Image credit: Leah Whiting)

Traditions, traditions, traditions

Nevertheless, traditions are traditions for a reason. You can’t go to an 800 year old university if you detest all forms of tradition.

Bridgemas has been around for a long time before us and probably will be for a long time after. So who are we to resist it?

Pick up your Santa hats and get the gyp Christmas dinner on the stove.

Bridgemas has begun!

Feature image credit: Niamh Bewick

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• How to microwave the perfect Bridgemas dinner
• Trip to the Gyp: Bridgemas Edition
• What Cambridge traditions screamed Bridgemas this year?