It’s finally here, the night that Sean’s Festive Scotland hits the air. To me it seems like such a long wait as we filmed it during the weeks of Halloween and Bonfire Night, so I’ve been in full Christmas mode since then.
You should have seen some of the looks I got walking through the likes of Aviemore and Arbroath in a Christmas jumper several weeks before the first door of our advent calendars were opened. I’m usually a very self concious person, but this time I didn’t care because I love Christmas!
Anyone that knows me will tell you that I’m obsessed about two things – snow and Christmas, so filming this episode was a dream come true. Now even through we were filming in late October, we were so lucky as the filming fell during a colder spell and we had snow – perfect for a Christmas special. If we had filmed it during the following weeks we would have been up to our knees in mud, and as much as reindeer look magical, muddy ones don’t looks quite as festive as snowy ones.
In the programme we go to meet some very special Christmas reindeer in the Cairngorms. Yes, there is such a thing as dedicated Christmas reindeer that get trained to pull sleighs through our towns for parades and do meet and greets at shopping centres around the UK. Chances are, if you’ve ever seen a reindeer here, it’s probably from the Cairngorm centre. Now, I’ve seen reindeer before in northern Norway, but seeing them here in Scotland was even more special. After filming there the crew asked if I was ok, because I was a bit quieter than usual, but if I’m being honest I actually felt quite emotional being surrounded by these magical animals with the addition of gently falling snow. I’m sure you’ll fall in love with them too.
Now, there’s a real love hate thing about Brussels sprouts, but even if you don’t like these Christmas delights, I’m sure you’ll be blown away by how a sprout farm looks from the air. They are grown on what’s called a sprout tree, but as you’ll discover from our drone shots in the programme, it looks very similar to the Christmas tree farm from above.
I also get to have a go at cutting down a Christmas tree at a farm near Kinross, but I was disappointed to find out that this wasn’t done by someone in a lumberjack shirt and an axe, but rather a man with a giant pair of scissors.
Being a snow lover, another dream was fulfilled during filming, where I went to Glencoe Ski Centre to find out how they make snow. This is something that Scottish centres are relying on more nowadays with the volatile ski seasons. I had amazing fun in the snow, but was left wanting one of these giant machines at my house so I can guarantee a white Christmas every year.
I know some of you liked seeing my little dog Harris make an appearance in our Dumfries and Galloway episode of Sean’s Scotland in the summer, so don’t worry he’ll join me for part of this Christmas special.
It’s going to be a cold one tonight, so why not stay in, cosy up with a nice cuppa and tune in for Sean’s Festive Scotland at 7.30pm. Hope to see you there.
