IF you love folk and traditional music with a festive flavour, you probably already know that Christmas and the Mellstock Band go together like turkey and cranberry sauce. This December, the delightful quartet, who recreate the music of Thomas Hardy’s time, come to Bridport Arts Centre on Saturday 13th December at 7.30pm.

The name Mellstock Band comes from Hardy’s fictional Mellstock, the name he gave in his Wessex novels and tales to the villages of Stanford and Bockhampton where he was born and grew up.

In their festive show, The Christmas Hearth, they invite you to their Christmas fireside with a seasonal mix of jovial songs, stirring dance music and haunting carols.

This is a costumed show with early instruments, song and spoken word, with hearty harmonies, soulful solos and exuberant instrumentals. The band brings to life the sound of a 19th century village band with fiddle, clarinet, concertina and serpent.

The music is linked by readings of work by Thomas Hardy, Charles Dickens, John Clare and William Barnes, telling the story of Christmas celebrations in 19th-century England.

There is more Victorian Christmas music and merriment at Bridport Arts Centre with The Cratchits’ Christmas Cracker on Friday 19th December at 7.30pm – a festive feast of seasonal silliness and a merry mixture of Yuletide foolery.

The Cratchit family is having a party and you’re all invited! Join Mrs Cratchit, cousin Edith and Uncle Hugo as they celebrate Christmas with a marvellous mix of festive songs, stories and parlour games.

The show has been created and is performed by Mary Woodvine, Craig Johnson and Jenny Beare, who between them have decades of theatrical experience with Kneehigh, Wildworks, the Minack, the RSC, the National Theatre and countless village halls.