Christmas, by royal appointment
After Sharky & George’s festive show at Kensington Palace, their exclusive London grotto is open to all. Anna Tyzack investigates
Grotto is a divisive word in London. The luckiest few have tickets to meet Father Christmas at his gingerbread house in Harrods (£20 per child, invitation only) or at the North Pole wonderland in the Royal Albert Hall (£30 per child).
Meanwhile, children whose parents are too disorganised – or cynical – to blow their cash on a “memory of a lifetime” Santa Claus experience, must queue for the free supermarket alternative.
This year, though, there is a new kind of grotto on the block, destined to shake the foundations of London’s revered Santa HQS, including the most expensive of all – the Hamleys Christmas grotto (£39.95 per child).
Sharky & George, children’s party entertainers to A-listers including Elizabeth Hurley, Sir Paul Mccartney and David Cameron, have sniffed out the opposition and come up with what they believe to be the grotto of every child’s dream.
They created one at Kensington Palace earlier this week for RAF families separated from loved ones over Christmas and have opened another for the public, above the Market Hall in Fulham Broadway. There are still tickets available – I managed to get three for my children, aged two, four and six. How, you might ask, could a Christmas grotto be any more indulgent than those at Harrods and Hamleys? These winter extravaganzas, with interior-designed cabins, mulled wine, live music and professional photographers, are a far cry from the garden centre grottos you find in the country. There is even a dogs-only Christmas grotto this year in Belgravia.
Sharky & George, however, has taken inspiration from Punch Drunk immersive theatre and created an hour’s worth of Christmassy entertainment with stories, games, one-to-one time with the Big Man and a snowball fight.
“We thought that given the thousands of parties we’ve put on, we should be able to do a great grotto,” says Charlie Astor, who founded the company with his friend George Whitefield. “It’s the best of our games and entertainment with a Christmas twist.”
We’re greeted at the door by a couple of elves – nothing out of the ordinary here, except there is no queue. Whitefield and Astor, both now fathers themselves, were determined that there would be no waiting around. We wander up through a snowy wonderland with reindeer and snowmen, and arrive in a wooden chalet smelling of pine cones.
The installation took weeks to create, apparently, with sound system and theatre lighting. I sit at an après ski-style bar with other mothers – Marina Fogle happens to be here, too, with her children, and the Lampards are due in next week – while a band of elves helps the boys to make crackers with impressively loud bangs.
Then there are party games, expertly masterminded by Sharky & George entertainers (many of them are wannabe actors and one was chief elf at Hamleys last year). There are sweets as prizes, followed by chocolate truffle-making at long tables with icing bags of molten chocolate – the sugar ban prescribed by many Chelsea mothers doesn’t appear to count here.
By the time a bell rings to signify the arrival of Father Christmas, the party has kicked off and we’ve all rather forgotten we’re here to see Santa. But here he is in luxurious red velvet with rosy cheeks and the longest, curliest beard.
“Headhunted him from Claridge’s,” explains Victoria Higgs, marketing director for Sharky & George. “He requires a dressing room and an hour to put on his make-up.”
To eclipse all other grottos, they needed the best Santa in town, one who could grace the Duke and Duchess’s grotto at Kensington Palace.
In a scene that could be on a Christmas card, Santa settles himself in front of the fire and the children gather around the Christmas tree for a story, The Night Before Christmas. After this, each child has their special moment with him. “We haven’t gone for expensive photographers – parents don’t want to get fleeced with more costs,” Astor says. “But we do make sure Father Christmas is equipped with information about the child and what they want for Christmas, to ensure they can have a proper conversation.”
Just when I think my children couldn’t be any more sweaty and wired, the elves appear with sacks stuffed with foam snowballs, which the children proceed to hurl at their parents.
What follows is the same organised carnage I’ve witnessed at other Sharky & George parties, with squealing children rugby tackling the entertainers, and competitive fathers unable to resist getting involved. The snowball fight was clearly a similar hit at the Kensington Palace grotto party – both the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge got stuck in.
The children are too engaged in combat to notice the bell ringing and Father Christmas making to leave. Only the arrival of his sleigh, piled high with Sharky & George festive party bags, brings the hour-long spectacle to a close.
At £25 per ticket, it isn’t cheap, yet unlike so many London attractions, it feels as if it was worth it.
“Great party, Mum,” my eldest says, as we climb into the car, which is exactly what it was.
‘We headhunted Santa from Claridge’s. He needs an hour to put on his make-up’