Festive Gift Fair 2016 - Birmingham N.E.C

So yesterday (Saturday 12th November) my mum and I hopped in the car and drove down to Birmingham N.E.C to visit the Festive Gift Fair. I was really lucky to have a press pass and a plus one and we were both excited to see what they had there! I love buying Christmas presents and this gift fair seemed right up my street. It took us about 2 hours to get there due to a lot of road works which was really annoying but once we got there we checked in and had a sit down in the food area, got ourselves an oasis and ate our pre packed ham sandwiches (big tip if you're heading to a convention like this, take your own lunch! Much cheaper and no long queues for food!) It was incredibly busy, if you have anxiety or get claustrophobic this can be a big challenge so I did have to just push through and just focus on each -slow- step through the crowds.

This is the fair guide that you could pick up just before entering and it was a big help, firstly it had a huge map of the whole event so you could see where all the specific stalls were, where you could find toilets and food and where the stages were (expect a lot of entertainment!) They even had a present creche so if you bought a lot of items you could drop them off there and then go back shopping meaning you didn't have to take the 20 minute walk back to your car several times! The whole event had a real magical quality to it, ignoring the insane crowds there was Christmas music, Christmas scents, Christmas jumpers and several bands playing on stages that gave the whole thing a really inclusive feel. 

Amazing snow globe you could get into and have your photo taken!

A lovely retro band, one of which winked at me as I took a photo.

Really wanted this Polar Bear!

There was a Santa and dame wandering round the event and lots of children (and me) queued up to say hello and get a photo, he even gave me a magic card that told me I was on the nice list and had his Facebook on the back!

This guy creeped me out a little, I'm not fond of people on stilts but it was cool to see him from a distance.

Two lovely girl groups singing songs from the 40's which gave the event a real Christmassy vintage theme!

Even though I saw so much I actually only purchased two things for myself, the first was a velvet reindeer sleep mask (originally from TU Sainsburys as it still had the tag on) which cost me a whole 50p and an adorable reindeer headband for the upcoming season and carol services etc which set me back £1.00, that's right, I spent £1.50! There were SO many stalls, from bakeries (yes I bought myself a pecan twist which I ate) to Shoe stalls, personalised tree decorations, makeup (I spotted some fake kylie lipkits tut tut) Art stalls, bags, massage stalls, you name it they had it, people were hauling baskets on wheels, suitcases and even prams full of gifts and there I was with a sleep mask and a headband. I really recommend visiting if you love the Christmas season and love just delving into the whole scene. There were so many present options but personally just nothing for anyone I know. 
Visit the website here to find out more about the event.