Christmas from Above reveals seasonal spectacle like you’ve never seen it before
The spire of Tallinn Town Hall overlooking the covered in snow stalls of the local Christmas market. The tree in the centre also hosts court to a troupe of folk dancers – another festive tradition.
Nothing lights up the night like Christmas – and the best place to appreciate the scale of its spectacle is definitely from above. It’s also the trickiest perspective to achieve for those of us lacking wings or a pilot’s license, which makes new show Europe From Above: Christmas, a one-off special coming to the National Geographic channel, such a seasonal treat.
Taking the blend of cultural insight and spectacle that makes Europe From Above so absorbing, this seasonal special takes to the skies to observe countries across the continent who put their own unique spin on Christmas celebrations.
Gliding high enough above the festivities to get a decent view – but close enough to see what’s going on – you can take in the buzz of Christmas in the places you might expect, and perhaps a few you might not.
In the show you’ll get a novel look at the ever-Christmassy Santa’s post office in Rovaniemi, Finland – where snow lies thick on the rooftop for most of the year – to the strictly seasonal steam-powered Train of Lights in Devon.
A Christmas tree dramatically lights up the town square of Vilnius, capital of Lithuania.
Sparks fly from the funnel of the Train of Lights, part of a Christmas spectacle in Dartmouth, Devon.
An ice skater pirouettes on a frozen lake in Oslo.
Then there are the more surprising, but no less spectacular festivities across the continent. Such as Colmar – the picture-perfect, timber-and-canal town in France where carol singers serenade the streets by barge; Bulgaria’s Kukeri or ‘Monster’ festival, designed to ward evil spirits away and maintain natural order in times of celebration; or the square in Tallinn where the resplendent Christmas market and its decorated tree become the focal point for traditional folk dancers.
Regardless of its colourful ability to chase away the winter blues, cultural appreciation of Christmas is unique wherever you find it, and it can be spectacular. Particularly, it seems, from above.
Europe from Above: Christmas premieres on 11 Dec at 8pm on National Geographic – available on Sky (129) and Virgin Media (266).
