On Friday 5 December, CSCI celebrated our fourth annual Christmas Market at the Jeffrey Cheah Biomedical Centre.
Partnering with our neighbours at Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute, Cambridge Biomedical Campus, The Milner Therapeutics Institute, and Cambridge Institute of Therapeutic Immunology & Infectious Disease, the building welcomed over 700 visitors from nearby communities, departments and hospitals on campus, and further afield to celebrate the start to the holiday season.
The market welcomed almost 40 vendors, from local crafting businesses to researchers and University employees who create art or jewellery in their free time, to charities based on campus.
The market started at 12pm and was kicked off by the Cambridge University Brass Band playing festive tunes over lunchtime. At 2:30pm, the Sing! community choir gave a performance among the stalls, which included local honey and hand-embroidered art, Chilean baked goods, handcrafted perfume, crocheted decorations, and science-inspired jewellery and paintings. (See a list of some of the vendors here if you missed your chance!).
Throughout the day, competitors from the JCBC hung wreaths to compete for prizes: Most Creative, Most Festive, Most Sustainable, and Judge's Favourite. The competition was fierce, with wreaths that lit up or were interactive, were science-themed or beautifully sewn, and some with the faces of all their lab members dressed as elves. At the end of the evening, the prizes were awarded to: Facilities Team (Most Sustainable), the Laurenti Lab (Most Festive), Wilson & Rihn Labs (Most Creative), and Ghevaert Lab (Judges' Favourite). This year, an extra prize for Most Delicious was added to account for an edible wreath made entirely of meringue and fruit (Sinha Group).
At 5pm, Father Christmas arrived at Santa's grotto, tucked back into CRUK's festive gallery, where dozens of children lined up to meet him and receive chocolate coins.
At the end of the event, we selected 10 lucky winners for a charity raffle benefitting Jimmy’s Cambridge . At this community event, vendors are asked to donate some of their goods in lieu of a stall fee that are then raffled off to charity. This year, the raffle raised almost £500 from ticket sales over the course of the evening.
At CSCI, we are proud to be a part of the Cambridge ecosystem and to host community events like this one. We look forward to hosting again next year!