Christmas comes to castle
AFTER the misery of 2020, a twinkling festive celebration at one of Wales’ favourite landmarks promises a welcome winter respite.
And ready in plenty of time for Christmas, Cardiff Castle has now been filled with attractions to get visitors in the festive spirit – while also ensuring safety is a priority with lashings of hand sanitiser, lots of fresh air and plenty of socially distanced fun.
As previously reported in the Echo, Christmas at the Castle has replaced the city’s annual Winter Wonderland for this most extraordinary of years.
Last night kicked off the capital’s festive season in style when the new event officially opened.
As these pictures show, outside in the moat there are rides, fairground games and the wooden Alpine village, where you can pre-book “lodges” to eat with friends, sticking to current coronavirus guidelines of course.
Inside the castle grounds you’ll see the 200m Ice Walk, trimmed in golden fairy lights together with the decorative deer that are usually in the moat area at Christmas.
What usually takes the Sayers team more than three weeks, they have put together in 10 days.
Over by the castle gift shop and cafe the outdoor seating has been improved to house “Dining at the Keep” – which will see a similar concept to the summer’s Castle Street alfresco dining, with tables to prebook and food to order via an app.
Inside there are the regular stalls selling hot drinks, Yorkshire pudding wraps, fudge and other treats, which you can just queue up and buy after you come off the ice walk – which will have staggered entries per bubble to ensure adequate social distancing.
Just next to the Ice Walk there are seating areas for those who have come into the castle grounds to stop and drink their hot chocolates or have five minutes’ rest to get rid of their skating legs.
These tables are not pre-booked and each has a sanitiser dispenser and all are well spaced out.
Visitors must have tickets for the Ice Walk, the keep dining experience and to attend the Victorian Santa visit, but they don’t require tickets to enter the castle grounds. However, entry will be monitored so it does not go over capacity.
Christmas at the Castle is part of the wider Cardiff at Christmas, which will incorporate the Christmas Market which runs throughout The Hayes, the Festive Quarter and the arcades in the city centre.
To find out more and to book tickets for the Ice Walk etc, visit cardiff castle.com