Here Are Five Things You Must Do If You Are In Kolkata For Christmas

Whether it is a tree or baubles for your tree, or a reindeer sleigh, the place to hit up is New Market and Mirza Ghalib Street (otherwise known as Free School Street). New Market also sells turkey and the best ingredients for your Xmas cakes and puddings. New Market becomes a glorious place for festivities - you can spend hours just wandering around. The centre gets converted into a kind of a Christmas wonderland where you can pick up all sorts of Xmas décor from trees to baubles and table decorations. Do hit up the legendary Jewish bakery Nahoums for classic Christmas cakes and desserts.

It’s the most lit thing in the city - Park Street during Xmas! The whole length of Park Street is decked out in fairy lights, tuni bulbs and Christmas-themed lighting. A slew of food stalls set up to sell homemade food and drinks. Photo ops are boundless as are the stalls where you can pick up everything from momos and soup to brownies and hot chocolate. Some of the stalls lining the street are run by small entrepreneurs or home-run business but they have the best food that you don’t get commercially (think pantras and boozy Christmas cake).

After the sun sets, the lights come on and it’s absolutely magical. Allen Park (on the crossing of Camac Street and Park Street) gets a giant Christmas tree decked out in baubles, lights, snowflakes, and other decorations. There are open-air concerts at the park with some of the most renowned Kolkata musicians who belt out Christmas tunes. Usha Uthup to Shane Hyrapiet, they’ve all been there. Allen Park also sees performances and choral presentations from the city’s best choirs — church groups, youth bands and more. Walk down any evening of the festival and witness festive performances. Almost all of Kolkata hangs out at Park Street, decked up in red Santa caps and reindeer bands!

How many of you know that Kolkata hosts an open-air street party open to all? So Goa! The Barracks hosts a couple of days-long festival with activities for every age group – sporting events, food stalls, dances and more. On one of the evenings close to Christmas, they have an open party with the city’s best performers singing their hearts out on a make-shift stage on the road. The party is open to all and goes on till the wee hours in the morning –  it’s BYOB! Keep an eye on our page — we will be telling you more about this soon. 

Many home chefs make cakes and homemade wine around this time of the year. We love Mutton Shutton‘s meat dishes laced with booze (think savoury Christmas pies and muffins) and their signature bacon jam. These little beauties come in the sweetest packaging in tiny jars and are perfect for gifting. Those with a sweet tooth, they’re also doing a a dark chocolate cake for those who need a midnight snack. And you absolutely must pick up a spiced mulled wine which has notes of orange and cinnamon!

To order you can message them on their Facebook page or email bongmarmalade@gmail.com. We recommend you order at least 48 hours in advance. They’ll deliver your order to your doorstep.

The most popular place to visit on Christmas Eve, St Pauls Cathedral literally takes your breath away. It’s probably not the best idea to head there for midnight mass though (if you’re looking for a solemn, undisturbed affair) — the cathedral is absolutely full at the time and is frequented by hordes from the media and politicians. 

Apart from St Pauls, there are several other churches in the city which host a midnight mass. Take a look here for the list.