Christmas and New Year in Val d’Isère

Christmas is well and truly upon us. The snow keeps falling, and in Val d’Isère we now have a very solid 130cm base of snow to keep building upon. The sun is shining intermittently, making it for all-round excellent first-tracks conditions for this winter season. Val d’Isère’s redevelopments are well underway, and paused for the winter to commence.

Whether you have children with you or not this year, there are a multitude of activities for everybody to get involved with in town. We’ve rounded up the events happening over the next couple of weeks to get you into the Christmas spirit and make the most of this festive period.

Throughout the week you can find the following around town:

• Giant Snow Sculptures: There are seven sculptures to find dotted around the town…can you find them all? This year they’ve been created by Christian Burger and his team. But keep your eyes out as you arrive in Val d’Isere too, as some of them even found themselves in Le Fornet and La Daille!
• Icy Christmas Scenes: Take the children to find the ice-carving elves, who will be busily working every day from 4pm-7pm in both the main village and on the main street. A great spectacle to watch the ice being carved before your eyes.
• Red Christmas Trees: Christmas with a difference; keep your eyes peeled in the Tourist Office square and the Olympique Avenue.
• Christmas Stage: Throughout the week there will be an array of live shows happening on the dedicated stage on Olympique Avenue.Catch Father Christmas amongst other festive creativities.

Sunday 23^rdDecember
Who doesn’t love free chocolate around Christmas time? If the kids (or adults!) are suffering from their first day back on skis for the week, head to Val d’Isère Telepheriques at the sales offices for some free choccies.

Monday 24^thDecember
See Santa on skis! Find him from 10-12 on the snowfront, and from 1-4pm at the top of the Solaise. You can also see Father Christmas and his elves with their giant toys in the village centre (Santa is busy this day!).Catch them at 10am on the snowfront, or at 5pm on the Avenue Olympique. Wind down the day before afternoon tea with face painting at 3pm in the tourist office, or go and have a chat and give Santa your Christmas list at the Avenue Olympique.

Tuesday 25^thDecember
Christmas Day will be a simple affair, with the traditional torchlit performed by the French Ski Instructors, accompanied by a ChristmasShow. Of course, many of the local bars and restaurants will also be ‘in the spirit’ and you can go exploring around the village to find some of the sculptures.

Wednesday 26^th December
Don’t miss the magic show and illusions from the famous magician Benjamin Lycan. You can find him at the Conference Centre.

Thursday 27^th December
If you’re looking for a more traditional Christmas affair, don’t miss the Noel and Gospel Concert on the Christmas Stage in the resort centre at 5pm and 6pm.

Friday 28^th December
A fairly ‘out-of-the-box’ idea, Santa’s son will perform ‘Off-the-wall’Christmas Hits: La Fanfare 25D.

If visiting after Christmas, do not despair as New Year brings a whole new host of activities. The main attraction is Val d’Isère’s Festi Light evening, which is returning for another year. This event runs every Thursday until 7^th March. If you own property in Val d’Isère, you’ll know that the village is kept snowy throughout the winter to add to the aesthetics and feel of the village. The light evenings take advantage of this, transforming the rest of the main street into a pedestrian zone. The lights come in all shapes and sizes and are accompanied by a whole host of performers including musicians, jugglers, DJs and ice sculptors.

For New Year’s Eve this year, you can expect the full light show experience, but also accompanied by DJ Ordoeuvre, a sound a light show; Les Elegants, Street Entertainment from Reve de Neige, a fire show from the Elixir Company and of course free hot chocolate and mulled wine! Most of this will kick off from 6pm, during which time the main road will be closed for traffic access between the two central roundabouts.