Given that Halloween hasn’t even happened yet, talking about anything related to Christmas is obscene – here are Metro.co.uk, we offer our sincerest apologies for doing so.
But that said, the weather (the bloody weather!) has been so unrelentingly bleak over the last month that looking ahead to Christmas seems fair enough – perhaps we all need a festive light at the end of the tunnel.
Anything to get through the endless rain, the grey skies, and that nasty cold you just can’t seem to shake; the sore throat that cuts through your dreams and wakes you in the middle of each night, leaving you fumbling in darkness for the ibuprofen you left at the side of your bed.
And maybe, just maybe, that light of the tunnel could be a Christmas buffet in Ikea.
On 13 December, the furniture chain is hosting a buffet in celebration of Santa Lucia – one of the biggest events in the Swedish calendar.
According to Ikea, the festival is used ‘to coincide with the longest night of the year, which is why it’s celebrated to this day with candlelit processions’.
In terms of the food, you can expect a variety of hearty, Swedish fare, such as boiled Christmas ham, meatballs (of course), herring, marinated salmon, potatoes, eggs, variations of cabbage, crispbread, cheese, and gingerbread.
You can also expect a candlelit procession which, it has to be said, looks a little spooky although maybe the effect will be undercut slightly by, you know, being in Ikea.
Tickets aren’t on-sale yet, but you can keep an eye out for them on the Ikea website.
MORE: Family of 23 sit down for Christmas dinner 11 weeks before the big day
MORE: Selfridges opens its Christmas shop – 149 days ahead of the big day
MORE: The best Christmas markets for 2019 so you can get your festive trinkets
