Why You Should Head To Kolkata For Christmas – Outlook India

After Durga Puja, Christmas is probably the most celebrated festival in Kolkata. And like Durga Puja, it is a festival where everyone joins in. Embassy grounds host Christmas feasts and charity sales. Those in the know stock up on homemade wine and roast turkeys. Getting in line for hours to pick up cakes at the giant queues outside iconic bakeries are a ritual. The hub of Kolkata – Park Street – gets all decked up with trees and lights. Dances are organised in clubs. Churches hold midnight mass. Nothing quite compares to the festive vibes in Kolkata during Christmas season.

Hit Up Iconic Bakeries For Cakes And Wines

Christmas is not the same without some good old, rum-soaked, Christmas cake? One of the most popular places in Kolkata for Christmas cakes is Nahoum & Sons. Established in 1902 in Hoggs Market (today New Market), they are known for their Christmas special – the Rich Fruit Cake. It is one of their oldest standing items and can last up to three weeks in the winter. Nahoums is Kolkata’s only Jewish bakery that still remains, as does its original teakwood and glass display cases that give this bakery its old-world charm. Look out for their chocolates, marzipan and fudge. 

Another popular place is the Saldanha Bakery, a small, Goan family-run business which was started by Ubeline Saldanha and her husband, Ignatius, nearly a hundred years ago. Today, their granddaughter Debra Saldanha runs the business. Come winter, the bakery is bombarded with orders for their famous Christmas cake. You will find long queues outside the bakery with patrons jovially chatting with each other, waiting for the cakes to finish baking in the ovens.

And then there’s Flurys of course, the once dainty tearoom (founded in 1927 by Mr and Mrs J Flury), on Park Street where preparations for Christmas begin with the much-awaited cake mixing ceremony. Their Christmas specials include plain and fruit cakes, rum and raisin cakes, Dundee cake, cupcakes, gingerbread houses, yule logs, and more.

Those in the know forego the bakeries and order homemade cakes and wines from people belonging to the Christian community. 

Hang Out At The Christmas Carnival

Formally called the Kolkata Christmas Festival, this is a relatively recent addition (since 2011) to the city’s Yuletide celebrations. Allen Park on Park Street is the main venue where the cultural functions, including choirs and live bands take place. The park is decorated with dioramas of Nativity scenes. Park Street itself takes on the look of an open-air carnival. Festivities start from December 21 and run till December 30. The area is decorated with fairy lights and illuminated panels, and giant Christmas trees. Local Anglo-Indian, Parsi and Chinese families set up food stalls, selling home-made savouries. Local bakeries, including the famous Flurys teashop, also set up stalls along the pavement.

Spend The Evenings At Bow Barracks

Tucked away from Chittaranjan Avenue, one of the busiest thoroughfares running through central Kolkata, is a cluster of red brick apartments, called Bow Barracks. These are said to have been built in the early 1900s to accommodate soldiers during World War 1, it was later converted to a housing for Anglo Indians by Calcutta Improvement Trust. Bow Barracks will be lit up from December 21 for the Kolkata Christmas Festival as it is part of the illumination plan for the carnival this year. Expect food stalls selling cakes and homemade wines. 

Attend A Midnight Mass

Irrespective of their religious beliefs, a large number of people in Kolkata flock to the midnight mass at St Paul’s Cathedral. So, do be there early if you want a seat – the crowd often spills into the lawns. One of Kolkata’s popular attraction, this cathedral, built in Indo-Gothic style – between 1839 and 1847 – is illuminated during Christmas and also sets up a Nativity scene.  The Roman Catholic St. Thomas Church on Middleton Row is also known for its midnight mass. Irrespective of the church, plan to be there a little early to beat the crowd.