{"id":88,"date":"2016-11-23T17:08:10","date_gmt":"2016-11-23T17:08:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/karinathroughthelookingglass.wordpress.com\/?p=88"},"modified":"2021-02-21T22:00:57","modified_gmt":"2021-02-21T22:00:57","slug":"southbank-winter-festival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/karinathroughthelookingglass.com\/index.php\/2016\/11\/23\/southbank-winter-festival\/","title":{"rendered":"Southbank Winter Festival – Southbank, London"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I love the festive season, just as much now as I did when I was a child. However, nowadays it\u2019s not because I get to open presents on Christmas day and spend my days making decorations (although that is still a part of it!). I love it because of the atmosphere – throughout November and December London is lit up with sparkly, seasonal features, and filled with exciting new pop-ups and Christmas markets to explore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Southbank Winter Festival supported by Natwest, recently \u2018popped up\u2019 on Southbank (surprisingly), located right next to the London Eye. The festival consists of a traditional style Christmas Market where you can purchase anything from fairy lights to instant snow, from little wooden chalets. There is a fabulous cookie stall which sells giant cookies (4 for \u00a35) including a mini egg flavour; a delicacy at this time of year!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

K\u00f6hler K\u00fcsse sells a selection of white, milk and dark chocolate mountains, beautifully decorated and displayed. As a chocaholic, it\u2019s no wonder I had to stop here; a tall teacake style chocolate filled with soft, gooey marshmallow on a wafer base – I went for the \u2018honey and almond\u2019 flavour. At \u00a31 each, they\u2019re an absolute bargain and totally delicious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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K\u00f6hler K\u00fcsse<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Honey and Almond<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

For those looking for a more substantial meal, there\u2019s a variety of street food to choose from. The Winter Festival sports a whole range of cuisines ranging from Indian to Polish. There\u2019s also pizza and burgers available for the less adventurous. I went for a roast pork bun from the \u2018Speckmobile \u2013 Taste of Austria\u2019<\/a>. This was a rye bun filled with roast pork, mustard and cabbage salad. The pork was extremely succulent and this was by far the best pork sandwich I have ever eaten. I would highly recommend this stand to anyone visiting! The Speckmobile also had chicken schnitzel and fries on offer, should pork not be to your taste.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Speckmobile\"
Roast Pork Buns<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Another gem found amidst the street food was \u2018The South-East Cakery\u2019<\/a>. The Cakery was dedicated to Oreo, Nutella and salted caramel brownies which you could have hot or cold, and smothered in toppings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Winter Festival has a number of bars and stalls for those wanting to get a bit merry this Christmas. Mulled cider can be purchased from the chalets for as little as \u00a32 a cup and mulled wine from \u00a34 upwards. Most stalls have the option for you to add a shot of warming spirit to your drink like brandy and amaretto for an extra cost and you can even buy alcoholic hot chocolate!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the drinkers, the main attraction is likely to be the Rekorderlig Cider Lodge<\/a>. The most recent addition to the Rekorderlig family is their \u2018Spiced Plum\u2019 flavoured cider which is offered mulled or cold. Having tried both versions, I would definitely recommend the mulled \u2013 nobody wants to be holding a cold cup in the winter!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Cider Lodge also sells the usual spirits, mixers, wines and beers, along with the range of bottled Rekorderlig ciders and speciality Rekorderlig cocktails. There is food on offer in the lodge too – a great alternative for those wanting to order from a menu and be seated whilst eating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Rekorderlig Cider Lodge Menu<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The Festival also offers rides making it fun for all the family. There is a traditional carousel and an incredibly high set of swinging chairs for the brave. Other entertainment includes a circus and a variety of shows. \u2018Bump\u2019,<\/a> the roller disco is there this year too! I’m looking forward to a roller skating sessions after a few more drinks!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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What’s on at Southbank Winter Festival<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

#London<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Celebrate the festive season at this nordic-inspired christmas market. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":752,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,4,14,192,195,19,23],"tags":[53,74,179,182,101,148,163],"class_list":["post-88","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-activity","category-bars","category-festive","category-food-and-drink","category-london","category-restaurants","category-street-food","tag-christmas-market","tag-entertainment","tag-event-review","tag-hospitality","tag-live-entertainment","tag-things-to-do","tag-winter-festival"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/karinathroughthelookingglass.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/karinathroughthelookingglass.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/karinathroughthelookingglass.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/karinathroughthelookingglass.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/karinathroughthelookingglass.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=88"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/karinathroughthelookingglass.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":621,"href":"https:\/\/karinathroughthelookingglass.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88\/revisions\/621"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/karinathroughthelookingglass.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/752"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/karinathroughthelookingglass.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/karinathroughthelookingglass.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=88"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/karinathroughthelookingglass.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=88"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}