Countdown to Fishmas: an advent calendar like no other!

Just a few days to go until we begin the Christmas countdown, but at Unlocking the Severn we like to do things a bit differently...

This year I am bringing back the Festive Fishes Advent Calendar. But rather than hosting it on our website, like we did last year, I'm bringing the calendar to Instagram!

What is Festive Fishes all about?

The Festive Fishes advent calendar is an online advent calendar, but instead of counting down in chocolate, you count down in fish! Each day you can head to Unlocking the Severn's Instagram Story and 'open' a window. Behind each window is a new view through Diglis Fish Window (our underwater looking glass into the River Severn). You will be able to watch footage of fish swimming through Diglis fish pass, meeting some of the 25 different species we have seen so far. Then, back on Instagram, test your knowledge with a quiz question about the species you have just seen.

May the best fish nerd win!

Creating the calendar in 2021

Last year, we created an online advent calendar on our website using a web plug-in called SantaPress. Engagement on our website and social media was high, and the calendar was very well received by our audience. The quiz questions were a great way for people to test their fish ID skills and wildlife knowledge, as well as providing important context for the building of Unlocking the Severn's fish passes.

Creating the calendar required a lot of attention behind the scenes. Myself and the Comms Officer thoroughly enjoyed coming up with the quiz questions. These needed to be entered in, along with the multiple choice answer options, for each 'window' of the calendar. I also needed to create graphics for the calendar windows and for promotion. Santa hats on the fish were a must!

You can find out more about last year's Festive Fishes campaign in my Unlocking the Severn journal. Scroll to page 23.

Mixing up the format for 2022

I was so pleased with the content I created for last year's calendar, that it would be a missed opportunity not to bring back Festive Fishes this year. With our follower count growing on Instagram, yet online attention spans getting shorter and shorter, I decided why not run the calendar through Instagram Stories?

I won't spoil too much of the process (for fear of downplaying my genius, haha!) but the calendar works by linking to scheduled YouTube videos. Add in the Instagram quiz feature to your Story, and you've got yourself an online advent calendar with a twist!

Get involved from 1st December

So why not test it out for yourself? Head to Unlocking the Severn's Instagram page, @SevernUnlocked, click on our Story each day in December, and play along with our Festive Fishes advent calendar.

Don't forget to tag #FestiveFishes and let us know how you're getting on!