Following much uncertainty, millions had to stay at home under lockdown in Tier 4 this Christmas. With the promised five-day Christmas bubble scaled-down only days before, people suddenly adjusted, if not cancelled, their celebrations and plans for the holidays.

Back in late November, the Prime Minister’s strive for a sense of festive normalcy inevitably met some skepticism. After all, 2020 was the year of u-turns. “Have yourself a merry little Christmas,” he urged people a few days prior. “And, I’m afraid this year, I do mean little.”

He meant Tier 4 and a local lockdown for millions at Christmas.

Continually changing coronavirus restrictions: the gift that kept on giving this holiday season.

In the usual fashion, a last-minute announcement followed days of hints to upcoming restrictions. The population of England, Wales, and Scotland saw the promised five-day Christmas bubble reduced to Christmas Day alone. Meanwhile, people in Northern Ireland were to pick one day. For those in London and the South East though, it was all out of the question. Local lockdowns imposed, they were only able to meet one person from another household. By New Year’s Eve, many more areas had joined the South and South East in their solitude. Three-quarters of England locked inside and Wales officially under lockdown. No matter where you lived, everyone’s celebrations looked different this year (but what hasn’t since March?).

Large family gatherings axed, with some going solo.

According to a November 2020 survey by PwC, almost 50% of people expected to spend the holidays with only their immediate family. Fortune tellers or, given the bleak state of affairs, realists, predicted what was to come. With usual family get-togethers off the table, it was a first for many.

It has been a long year. One of worry about protecting relatives, sorting out the logistics of forming bubbles, and more. There were understandably those who longed for the stability of the yearly reunions. The nosy ‘gossip girl’ aunts, that favourite cousin – even the awkward interactions with that relative you hardly speak to. Facetime, virtual cook-alongs, and the turkeys that spammed the family chat proved more meaningful than ever to keep in touch.

Others decided to tone it down however. And the fact is, that after an exhausting year, it is okay to have called it an early night. After all, we are living through a global pandemic. We have all dealt with the consequences of everything suddenly changing. Different consequences but consequences after all. So I think it’s safe to say there is a shared hope. Fingers-crossed next year’s celebrations are twice as great for the year missed.

Christmas gift shopping grows online and local. Boxing Day spent under the loom of lockdown.

No doubt there were still those who flocked to do their last-minute shopping. The crowds were documented since the ease of lockdown in early December. Despite this, industry stats show a decrease of in-person purchases. Further insight from Springboard and PwC show this year’s holiday shopping habits reflect a trend – there has been a rise in support for local businesses.

Plus, with all non-essential businesses closed though, a trip to the grocery store was essentially as much fun as you could get outside.

An un-traditional Christmas following suit to an ‘unprecedented’ year.

On a side track, ‘unprecedented’ should have been Collins Word of the Year. We did not sigh at the sight of it in hundreds of emails for nothing!

To no one’s surprise, the squashing-through-Winter-Wonderland-crowds did not go ahead. So was the case for hundreds of Christmas light switch-ons across the country. With many events cancelled and others adapted, the New Year’s fireworks display in London went ahead without its usual public audience (and provided a very inspiring drone display instead). Meanwhile, Santa’s Grotto turned drive-through in some areas.

No one would have guessed last Christmas would have been the last time you would be able to experience many things for a while. Grumbling at crowded markets, a rush to buy all the God-knows-how-many-Secret-Santas-you-got-yourself-into, the pressure to have a ‘holidate’. Suddenly, it all seems so small next to the realization of how fragile we are. So many people have lost loved ones or faced the fear of it and many have not had the opportunity to properly say goodbye or cope. In the end, it all comes down to our relationships. I think many have realized what they value the most. If not able to spend the holidays with a small circle, it was with the realization that loved ones are safe.

Closing this year’s chapter, it is easy to let coronavirus be the sole protagonist, but the drone show highlighted other defining aspects: the NHS’s central role; Black Lives Matter making history as the largest civil rights movement in US history; and the growth of environmental awareness and activism.

In the words of the beloved Sir David Attenborough, “With the new year comes the opportunity for change. Together, we can turn things around. Together, we can restore our fragile home and make it a happy new year for all the inhabitants of planet Earth.”

2020 over and out. Happy new year!

 

Nerea Zambrano

Featured image courtesy of @Ranurte via Unsplash. Image license can be found here. This image has not been altered.

Currently a second-year journalism student at the University of Leeds, interested in storytelling and documentaries. Some of my hobbies include photography, obsessing over the latest Netflix series and of course, writing!✨

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