Leigh984, The creative portfolio of Leigh Spencer

A look at Chinese New Year celebrations in the city of Leicester. Celebrations start with a traditional lion dance performed on campus before moving to Jubilee Square, once in the square we meet two Dragons, a traditional chinese dragon and one created by Mr Cleavers Monsters (@mrcleaver9907) called Brimstone. The procession departs along the High Street occasionally stopping at points along the route to give businesses New Years greetings.  Continuing to the beat of the drum the procession reaches the clock tower and entertains the large crowd with dancing and interactions. The route through the city takes the dragons to the aptly named Green Dragon Square, where a spectacular finale of lights, fire dancers and a firework display from the roof of the Corn Exchange brings the days events to a colorful and exciting conclusion.  The event was delivered by Cosmopolitan Arts. 

A look at part of the Newbold Verdon Christmas Yarnbomb 2022 created by Rainbows, Brownies and Guides in the village. The Christmas Yarnbomb has become a tradition in Newbold Verdon in recent years with the Girl Guiding groups creating a spectacular display on the area alongside the village library among the trees. The display sees multi coloured scarves (that a Timelord from Gallifrey would be proud of) wrapped around trees and benches etc knitted bunting, pom poms and festive creatures strung between the trees and a message of Merry Christmas Newbold Verdon on the fence at the back of the display area. Angels, Snowmen, Santa and even Owls also feature in this magical winter wonderland of knitted creations how many will you spot ?.

The Cosby Crafters return with their Christmas yarnbomb, decorating the village with a variety of festive creations. We begin with a collection of life sized knitted people celebrating the season in various ways before moving to the Nook where we find quilted trees topped with friendly smiling yellow stars. Next up is a dustbin topper and postbox topper with a thank you message to postal workers. We follow the trail beneath swinging stars and angels and as we do small lights in the branches of the trees flicker into life. We end on a fully knitted nativity scene complete with a star shining above the holy scene.

During the festive period in Newbold Verdon the Baptist Church held a Christmas tree festival with trees decorated by various community groups people and local businesses in the village, The theme of the festival was we three kings and each tree interpreted the theme in a different way. Entering the church we see the trees lining either side of the room before getting a closer look at the individual trees.

   Santa makes his annual festive visit to Newbold Verdon greeting the village residents young and old with a friendly wave as he toured the streets. During his visit Santa was aided by The Market Bosworth Rotary Club who raised funds for local charities with a bucket collection along the route. As he went he passed many houses decorated with sparking lights and the new village christmas tree, stopping at various points he met residents of all ages from just a few months old to 80 plus.

A look at the Barwell Christmas Yarnbomb 2022 featuring a selection of festive characters. Each year the center of Barwell gets a festive makeover for Christmas with a variety of handcrafted knitted characters placed atop roadside bollards. As usual the high standard of creations by the Barwell Yarnbombers meant the selection included Santa Claus, Penguins, Reindeer, A Snow Queen, Snowmen and more, The trees even seemed to be wearing their own #christmas jumpers !. Join me as I take a walk through the #yarnbomb and we see the various creations and see how many you can spot, it may take several views to spot all the little details each knitter has included in their creative christmas characters.