Monday 1st December 2008 - Christmas starts here!

Dec 1 2008

Welcome to our special celebration of all things Christmas!

Every day from now until December 25, we will be helping to spread some of the magic of the season.

We'll have a new main story each day - just like an Advent Calender - which will feature videos and stories from around the region, the best Christmas videos from the internet, quizzes and competitions.

We've also got a custom made Google Map, which you can use to find out what Christmas events are happening near you and where the nearest grottos are.

More importantly, we know you love to decorate your homes for Christmas so we want you to send us in pictures of your houses covered in lights, which we will add to the map - the more the merrier - letting everyone know just how great your home looks. See if you can beat the home on the video below - there's a challenge for you!

And that's not all - if you look a bit further afield in our special Christmas page you can find out how to buy tickets for the Liverpool Echo's spectacular Christmas Carol Concert at Liverpool Cathedral.

We've also teamed up with Father Christmas himself, who will be writing a special blog for us and wants to hear all the Christmas wishes of everyone out there - click through to his blog to find out more.

And we have some great games for you to play - once you're through enjoying the rest of the fun!

To start off with a bang, we've got a fantastic competition.

We've teamed up with the Royal Mail to offer six people the chance to win a £250 All4one gift voucher which can be used at a wide range of high street retailers, including B&Q, Burtons, JJB Sports, Top Shop and Top Man, Mothercare and Comet.

To be in with a chance of winning, just answer this question:

Which monarch appears on all UK stamps?

To enter, call 0901 657 0093 with your name, address phone number and answer OR text LECOMP55 followed by a space and tell us your answer, name, address and phone number to 84080.

Calls will cost 60p, text messages 50p plus standard message rate. Usual competition rules apply. Lines will be open from 11am on Monday December 1 to midnight on Friday December 5. Winners will be chosen by computer at random.

Got all that? Then away we go on the Christmas express to December 25.