’Tis the season of the grotty wonderland

Another Christmas, another winter wonderland that turns out to be nothing more than a few shivering curs in a bald field.

this year it was Winterfest in London’s Crystal Palace Park, so bad it was closed permanently after its opening weekend.

revellers trudged through the cold to find a slush-covered, non-icy ice rink, a sea of mud, a no-show Santa in a no-grotto situation, a crummy burger van selling sulphurous slabs of indeterminable meat and wooden shed shops with an offer on single mittens. one mother complained her children were freezing — but to be fair, you can’t blame the Christmas cowboys for that.

Grim wonderlands have become as much of an annual tradition as Christmas itself. And somehow, almost as enjoyable!

Do you think it’s the same people every year, keeping one step ahead of the law and the posse of furious mums? When is the (bad) penny going to drop?