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Army HIVE Christmas and New Year Closures

The majority of Army HIVEs will be closed after duties on Fri 19 Dec 25 and will reopen on Mon 5 Jan 26. There may be localised variations to these dates for individual HIVEs.

Army HIVE HQ is also closed during the festive fortnight, so any enquiries submitted via the ‘If you need further information’ MS Forms function on our UK, Cyprus or Overseas blogs will be answered when we return in the New Year.

We will periodically cover private messages on our Army HIVE Facebook platform (and X/Instagram where possible) whilst we are closed. However, this will not be 24/7 and should not be relied upon for anything that requires an urgent response.

To support our customers with more immediate requirements however, the Army HIVE HQ email will provide a comprehensive out of office autoreply, detailing points of contact that are either 24/7, emergency providers, or open over the festive leave fortnight. To receive this autoreply, please email:
RC-Pers-HIVEComms-0Mailbox@mod.gov.uk

Individual HIVEs will also provide localised contact details for Christmas and New Year cover wherever possible in their automated replies. Therefore, if you email your closest HIVE, which you can find on HIVE’s page on the Army website, their autoreply may be of additional assistance.

Army HIVE wishes all of its Service community customers, and our internal and external stakeholders, a very happy Christmas and New Year. We look forward to continuing our support and engagement in 2026.


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November 10, 2025

Blackpool: Christmas By the Sea - 21 Nov 2025 until 04 Jan 2026


Blackpool’s spectacular Christmas By The Sea village is returning for 2025. VisitBlackpool has confirmed that the hugely popular outdoor village will open on Friday 21 November with an exciting range of festive family attractions - plus a free skating rink which will open every day until January 4, 2026 (barring Christmas Day).

In addition to the free-to-use skating rink, this year’s village will include festive light installations, themed log cabins with food, drink and gifts and artificial snowfalls.

It will also see a variety of themed children’s attractions, exciting thrill rides including a 100ft-long snow slide, and an aerial swing ride, the Star Flyer. This year will also see the return of a German Swing Grill, Snow Dome Waltzers, a Helter-Skelter slide and Ice Breaker thrill ride. New to the site this year will be a Christmas themed Fun House, set over three floors this new attraction will feature spinning barrels and discs, shuffle boards and special lighting effects.

Christmas By The Sea will be complemented by a full Illuminations display along the seafront after VisitBlackpool announced earlier this year that the Illuminations would once again be extended by two months to run until January 4 2026.

Throughout the Christmas By The Sea season, people will be able to park for four hours at many Blackpool Council car parks for just £2, this year the offer includes both Talbot and Central Multi-Storey Car Parks.

The event will be opened at a special celebration that will take place early evening on Friday 21 November. 

To find out more, click on the link below.

 Christmas By The Sea

Information provided by Preston & Weeton HIVE