Liverpool revealed as most festive city in the UK

The advent calendars have been opened, the Bailey’s is on ice, and the Met Office is predicting snow this week, which can mean only one thing: the festive season is here, and it’s time to get the mulled wine out.

However, with so many different festive activities taking place up and down the country, it can be hard to decide where to go, which events to visit, and how to make the most of the Christmassy spirit. That’s why property developer Berkeley Group has compiled a list revealing the most festive city in the UK based on a range of popular seasonal criteria – including the likelihood of having a white Christmas.

The research found that Liverpool is the most festive city in the UK with a score of 23.5 out of 45, closely followed by London in second place with 23 and Birmingham taking home the bronze medal with 22.5.

London was by the far the leading city when it came to hashtags but scored only two for chances of snow – in fact, London has had a white Christmas just six times since 1960 according to data from the Met Office. The capital city also hosts a staggering 14 different Christmas light trails during the festive period.

Birmingham has 24,000 yearly searches for Christmas markets and has experienced snow on Christmas Day 23 times in the last 62 years, placing it firmly in third place.

Inverness in northeast Scotland had the highest chance of snow on 25^th December, having snowed on Christmas Day 34 times since 1960 – more than 50% of the time! Bottom of the list were several places from the south, including Milton Keynes, Westminster, and Colchester.

Overall, the top 10 most festive cities in the UK are:

1.   Liverpool

2.   London

3.   Birmingham

4.   York

5.   Edinburgh

6.   Durham

7.   Chester

8.   Wrexham

9.   Lincoln

10.   Nottingham

By region, the most festive UK cities are:

Northwest England: Liverpool (1^st)

Greater London: London (2^nd)

West Midlands: Birmingham (3^rd)

Yorkshire and the Humber: York (4^th)

Scotland: Edinburgh (5^th)

Northeast England: Durham (6^th)

Wales: Wrexham (8^th)

East Midlands: Lincoln (9^th)

Southwest England: Bristol (12^th)

Southeast England: Portsmouth (36^th)

Ireland: Belfast (39^th)

East England: Chelmsford (40^th)

Edinburgh had the most yearly searches for Christmas markets with 29,000, closely followed by Birmingham with 24,000 and York with 22,000. Bangor in Wales, Peterborough, and Southend-on-Sea all came bottom with less than 10 searches a year.

London topped the list for Christmas light trails, with the city boasting 14 different routes throughout the festive period. This year, St. James and Regent Street in London will be playing host to the Spirit of Christmas display, which is the largest lights installation in the country, featuring 45 angels flying above the streets.

Durham, Swansea, and Wrexham came in first, second and third place respectively with the number of monthly searches for “Christmas”, based on the percentage of the population, while Ripon in Yorkshire came in last.

The full index analysed the top 50 cities in the country to find the most festive, with the complete dataset available on Berkeley Group’s blog. Berkeley Group is renowned for creating stylish and community-focused apartments and homes across London, the Home Counties, and Birmingham, whether you’re looking to move closer to the festive spirit or flee from it like the Grinch.

Search their developments to discover the latest opportunities here.