Cardiff Winter Wonderland will be replaced by ‘Christmas at the Castle’ for 2020

‘We were determined to give the city a smile at Christmas’


Winter Wonderland this year has been replaced by ‘Christmas at the Castle’. The event will begin on the 12th November 2020, and will run till the 3rd January 2021.

This 53 day-long festival will be hosted in the City Castle and is expected to offer a range of outdoor activities, including a 33-metre big wheel. There will be social distancing guidelines in place so that friends and families can safely enjoy all of the attractions available.

The big wheel, along with other rides, will be placed within the castle’s moat area. The rides will be complimented by ski-hut style food and drink area, fitting the Alpine resort theme. However, all the ordering will be via app this year.

This event will also run alongside Cardiff Castle’s programme of planned activities, such as the Victorian Santa tour (if you’re a sucker for historical tours, then you’re coming to the right place).

Another major attraction that you will find at ‘Christmas at the Castle’ is an open air ice walk, similar to the one introduced at Winter Wonderland last year. However, this year there will be wider pathways so as to allow greater social distancing. This attraction will require pre-booking which can be done here, and will allow the organizers to track and trace visitors.

Visitors can expect a range of food and beverage options around the walk trail, with outdoor seating which will also include a marshmallow firepit.

The attractions are expected to be open from noon each day, with the ice walk shutting at 9pm on weekdays and 10pm on Fridays and Saturdays. All the other attractions in the moat area will close by 10pm.

Norman George Sayers, of Sayers Events, said: “Obviously we’re not able to bring the usual scale of Winter Wonderland to Cardiff this year but we were determined to give the city a smile at Christmas so we’ve worked closely with Cardiff council and environmental health to gather a collection of outdoor attractions in and around the castle.

“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.”

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