NEW FOR 2020: CHRISTMAS AT THE CASTLE REVEALED
CARDIFF’S annual Winter Wonderland will be replaced by a special Christmas at the Castle event this year.
Organisers Sayers Events and Cardiff Council are working together to manage the event to ensure it operates according to rigorous safety standards designed to allow visitors to enjoy themselves in a Covid-safe, socially-distanced environment.
Christmas at the Castle will run from Thursday, November 12, to Sunday, January 3, and will offer a number of festive outdoor activities.
Wrap up warm for an ice walk, the big wheel, fairground rides and more, which will run alongside Cardiff Castle’s programme planned activities such as the Victorian Santa Tours, the Keep Dining Experience and the Lone Stag Bar
The open-air “ice walk” will be along the lines of the one introduced at Winter Wonderland last year, but with a wider pathway, to allow greater social distancing and with limited capacity.
There will also be a 33m high Big Wheel and a small selection of festive family rides and games.
The wheel and the rides will be outside the castle in the moat area as will the ski hut-style food and drink seating area with an Alpine resort theme, which will be lit and heated.
A Yoello app-based ordering system will operate for table service in this area. Also around the Ice Walk there’ll be more outdoor seating for food and drink – including a marshmallow firepit.
Visitors will pay for each attraction individually, with pre-booking required for the Ice Walk only, so that visitors can be track and traced.
Face masks are compulsory only in the Skate Hire marquee, as all other facilities are outdoor.
The attractions will be open from noon each day, with the ice walk closing at 9pm on weekdays, and 10pm on Fridays and Saturdays.
The moat attractions are open until 10pm every night.
With 53 days to enjoy the festivities, visitors are advised to avoid the likely busy periods, such as weekend evenings, so that social distancing can be maintained. Norman George Sayers, of Sayers Events, said: “Families have had a lot to bear in 2020, so they can be reassured that we are working tirelessly to make Christmas at the Castle as safe and enjoyable as possible.
“We hope this will also encourage people back into the city centre where they can get all their Christmas shopping and enjoy the traditional Christmas Market.”
Christmas at the Castle will work with local businesses and suppliers, and will aim to provides muchneeded employment opportunities for local people involved in the industry.
It will replace the Winter Wonderland event that usually is held in the civic centre.