Market huts line the little lane so you can sip hot chocolate and marshmallows as you enjoy the show. Waterford Illuminates, a light show beamed every half hour after dark that sees a beautiful period house transformed into classic Christmas scenes was better still this year. Santa’s kingdom has changed location and there’s a quirky giant snow globe for a very unique family photo. There are new additions to the programme this year. It’s why cities as big as Dublin or Cork could never host an event quite like Winterval. It’s a village feeling wrapped up in a beautiful city. Everything takes just minutes to reach - a quick walk to the ferris wheel, another stroll to the Waterford Eye and its sweeping views, around the corner there’s Santa’s inflatable towering green giant post box, a little further still and you’re at the ice rink. There are little wooden market stalls, as atmospheric as any you’d see in Europe’s equivalents, selling crafts, crepes and hot chocolate.īut the real secret to Winterval’s success is the intimacy and size of the city. Instead of reindeer sleigh rides, there are horse-drawn sleighs. There’s no snow, or it’s unlikely at any rate. If Lapland is out of reach, then there’s something very close, right on our doorsteps. Its Winterval experience has eclipsed all other festive festivals in Ireland.
And it’s true: In just six years Waterford has established itself as theChristmas destination. Winterval has a new tagline this year: Ireland’s Christmas Capital. She thought we were in the North Pole, or at least somewhere very close. “It’ll go straight to him here,” said the youngest, nodding knowingly, with great confidence.Īnd then it dawned on me. They all kissed it - for luck - and eyes shut tight, pushed it through letterbox. ‘Santa Claus, North Pole’, was scrawled across the front, in their finest writing. Three pairs of little hands with dimpled fingers gripped the red envelope. It is, without doubt, Fota Island’s best Christmas event yet. We can’t spoil the surprise, but expect the aforementioned underground snow tunnels, real life reindeer, ice cream cones, dress up rooms for budding princesses with Princess Elf-sa, and sleigh driving lessons (with licences granted). This year, event management company Catapult are behind the Fota Island experience again - and these are evidently people who truly “get” children. Six duty managers keep the queues moving, a crucial part of the job (“if you don’t notice them then they are doing their jobs,” says Seamus). More than 60,000 people are expected to visit this year, and Seamus has introduced a fourth pricing tier to try to make it more affordable for families: €12 for adults and €16 for kids, versus €16 for adults and €28 for kids at peak times. Construction will start the following month. The set will be ordered in July, and arrive in September. In January there’ll be a debrief on Beyond, and in March presents will be sourced and wrapped from Manchester and China for 2018. Two months ago, work started on next year’s experience (the name and storyline are already approved). The elves are given packs, the songs they can sing, jokes they can tell. The fake snow is sourced from the same company that supplies Game of Thrones.
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The audition process for the elves is almost as well known as the production itself.Īn X-Factor template is used, and candidates are asked a series of important questions, along the lines of, how does Rudolph fly. “Only one person in the whole place calls them that - payroll,” says Seamus, laughing. The location is referred to as a set - Beyond is given the respect of a theatrical production - and as for the elves, they are never, called by their human names. This year it’s Beyond, and without spoiling the surprise, it features snow caves and gnomes. Seamus thinks of it as a “panto over 10 acres” - the name and story change every year just as a panto does.
Natalie Ryan, 4, gets a hug from Peppermint Wintertoes in the ice tunnel at Fota Island’s Beyond. Today, it’s become something of a tradition, an institution, in Cork, no mean feat considering it’s only five years in the making.
Word quickly spread and demand was so strong, the website crashed when tickets were released. Fake snow, mulled wine - it was a visit that could give Lapland a run for its money. Peter and Seamus would do it, they agreed, once it was the best in Ireland.įranc, a man who likes to think big, made it far more than just your average visit to Santa.
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