WITH Halloween and Guy Fawkes night well and truly behind us, we can now concentrate on celebrating Christmas and the New Year.
And with so many different establishments in and around Birmingham, we have never been more spoilt for choice, either in surroundings, type of cuisine or price.
Many people will be thinking of office parties, offering a rare chance to get out and socialise with work colleagues.
There's a chance to join friends you may not have seen for some time and, of course, the festive season is always a time of year for families.
Local pubs have always catered well for revellers, with pre-Christmas traditional fare of roast turkey and all the trimmings usually very reasonably priced. More and more hostelries offer special menus on Christmas Day and New Year's Eve, usually more expensive, but always very popular.
A feature of Birmingham in recent years has been the growth of different restaurants, offering cuisine from almost everywhere in the world. Whether it is American, Caribbean, French, Italian, Spanish, Greek, Asian, Thai, Cantonese or Japanese, you will find it in the region.
Some of these restaurants can offer a traditional English Christmas menu, but for those who, perhaps, want something different, they all offer special menus in their own individual style.
It is not just pubs and restaurants that provide great festive fare and celebrations. Your local football clubs, greyhound stadiums, casinos, hotels and various other establishments all have tempting packages to woo corporate and private parties.
Cabaret, discos and other forms of entertainment are all part of their Christmas offerings.
