Celebrating Christmas at Traquair House

One thing is abundantly clear when you visit the Scottish Borders- community is important. This spirit was alive and well as we visited Traquair House during their Christmas weekend festivities a few weeks ago. There was something for all ages with entertainment, food, homemade products, and an historic house decked out for the holidays. So, join us- including our Golden Retriever explorers, Walter and Arthur- as we show and tell you a bit about our festive weekend at Traquair House!

Traquair House is one of our favourite places to visit in the Scottish Borders. We’ve previously written about their medieval fayre as well as the house itself (it is Scotland’s oldest inhabited house). However, this week we continue our celebration of the holidays by sharing some of our time spent there during their Christmas programme.

We visited both days of the event so that we could experience all they had to offer, and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. As you can see from the pictures below, so did Santa-Walter and Reindeer-Arthur. Traquair House is beautiful year-round, but the frost on the ground and the Christmas decorations added a little extra magic.

You can’t get any more appropriate for the holiday season than chestnuts roasting over an open fire along with a visit to Santa Claus.

Walter and Arthur also took the chance to ‘audition’ for their chance to help Santa by posing in his sled. Although Santa-Walter did not look too pleased that Reindeer-Arthur wouldn’t pose outside the sled as a proper reindeer should. 😂

Both days had a puppet show for children in the Chapel as well as a demonstration of the Elcho Griffin Street Organ.

On Saturday, we enjoyed music by St. Ronan’s Silver Band and a performance by the Traquair Community Choir.

Sunday featured music from the Peebles Silver Band.

There were also plenty of opportunities to purchase Christmas gifts from a variety of vendors including Traquair House itself at their Brewery and gift shop.

In Christmas market style, there were stalls set up in the courtyard.

In a fun twist, there were also stalls in Traquair House. We enjoyed the beautiful Christmas decorations as we walked through the House and explored the wares for sale from local sellers.

Even the Borders icon, Sir Walter Scott, was dressed for the occasion.

We also purchased some delicious treats from the ‘Ann Crafted’ stall.

Overall, we had a festive time at the Christmas programme at Traquair House. It was a cosier alternative to much larger Christmas markets. Additionally, as we mentioned at the beginning of this post, you always get a feeling of community in the Scottish Borders, and that was certainly a part of this event. It was a wonderful way to support local entertainment and sellers as well as enjoy the weekend at such an historic location. Therefore, we recommend that you attend the Christmas at Traquair House if they have it again next year. We also recommend that you visit the House when they re-open in April! Be sure to head over to their website for more information.

Until next time- Explore & Discover!