Some say in November and others say December 24.

When is it an appropriate time to whip out the green, red and gold decorations, the stockings and - most importantly - the Christmas tree?

We spoke to shoppers on Strand Street, Douglas, to find out when they think it’s acceptable to begin celebrating the season at home.

Laxey resident Phil Hassall, 56, believes that December 1 is a sensible time to start.

’I just don’t understand it,’ he said. ’I start putting the decorations up when I finally get bothered by the kids, which is about 10 days beforehand. I leave them up until the twelfth night - the fifth of January.’

Gary Perice, 50, from Douglas, said: ’The first weekend of December. That’s about when I get the artificial tree down from the loft.’

His wife Laura, 49, said: ’I haven’t started the Christmas shopping yet. It’s me who does that.’

Gary said: ’Christmas shopping doesn’t fuel my joy.’

When asked what they thought about people getting ready for Christmas in November, Gary replied: ’They haven’t got a calendar clearly.’

His wife added: ’It’s up to the individual.’

Petra Stetina, 49, from Castletown, brings her family along to her birthplace for Christmas.

’The Christmas tree goes up on December 24. That’s how we do it in Austria. It’s a Catholic country and so we have baby Jesus who comes in that evening and brings the tree. All you hear is a little bell and the kids, when they were younger, would come running to find the tree. Now they just sit with their screens.’

She said that the traditional Christmas procession was called Bescherung and it had different events occurring on the run up to the big day.

Her daughter Helene, 14, said: ’We don’t put all our decorations up all at once, but bit by bit.’

Helene’s favourite part of December are the cookies her grandma makes in November, which are stored until it’s closer to Christmas.

Petra continued: ’On the evening of the 24th it’s tough for the parents who have got to get the tree decorated and cook dinner. The kids go out with the grandparents, who live in Austria, and they phone us to say when they’re coming back home.

’When we moved here we found a plastic tree at the St John’s amenity site. We’ve brought it back and forward to Austria. We have it up early for our Manx side.’

Friends Isobel Hasnan and Amy Anderson, aged 31 and 32, say the right time to start is December 1.

’It’s too early if you do it in November,’ said Isobel from Port Erin.

’You’ll run out of Christmas steam,’ Amy from Hertfordshire replied. ’We do sort of start to think about Christmas at the end of November, but I’m not organised and don’t buy Christmas presents until December.’

Isobel, who moved from England to the island three years ago, said: ’Christmas is the same kind of experience and environment here, but Hop tu Naa is very different.’

Ben Cotton, 23, from Douglas, also thinks December 1 is the right time to start.

’Only the tree goes up with a bit of tinsel and a few presents underneath. It’s just two lads living in a flat - it’s our first Christmas together, which is very cute.’