…More than four million Christmas trees could still be standing by January 31st.
12th Night is soon to be upon us later this week, and traditionally that is the time to put away your sparkly baubles for another eleven months, however, research of a selection of UK adults who have been celebrating the festive season found one in 10 won’t be taking down their decorations by 6th January as the tradition states. And one in 20 fully intend to leave the lights on and baubles hanging on their trees until the end of the month.
The findings showed that 88 per cent of adults had put up two trees in the home in December 2021, which means 4,176,377 will be left standing across the nation. Of those who choose to leave up their decorations, one in five love how pretty they look and 11 per cent say their home feels nicer. However, 16 per cent said their tree would be gone by New Year’s Eve.
The research was commissioned by wilko as part of its Bring Christmas Home competition to find six deserving families and causes that needed some extra special festive cheer. The search was conducted with help from the retailer’s three charity partners, Alzheimer’s Society, Save the Children and Teenage Cancer Trust, who together form the Together for Families programme.
Jerome Saint-Marc, CEO at wilko:
“There’s no harm in keeping the Christmas spirit alive for as long as possible, given how much time we spend buying, wrapping, and preparing our decorations around the home. Even after the 12th day has passed, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t keep the decorations up and make the most of them.”
The study also found nearly half of adults (43 per cent) who put up decorations for Christmas believe leaving them around the home beyond 6th January will lead to bad luck. However, 77 per cent believe decorations are a huge contributor to the festive season with 22 per cent ‘simply obsessed’ with Christmas as a whole.
Of those who decorate their home, 39 per cent plan to buy their tinsel, baubles, artificial trees and lights in the Boxing Day and 2022 January sales to prepare early for the next festive season.
