Stockeld Park is set to open for its Christmas events this weekend after a £100,000 investment.
The Christmas Adventure at Stockeld Park started in 2007 and has added new features since.
Peter and Susie Grant, the owners, said recent improvements meant visitors were set to experience the park’s “most spectacular light show yet”.
Other new features for the enchanted forest this year include giant butterflies, jackalopes, phoenixes and griffins.
Experience the illuminations in the forest.
As well as the illuminations, the park has Santa’s grotto, an ice skating rink, a Christmas in Oz pantomime, an illuminated maze and more.
The Christmas Adventure opens on Saturday, November 19 and will run until Tuesday, January 3.
Tickets, which start at £12 for ice skating or £15 for access to the forest, maze and illuminations, are available now.
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Mr Grant said:
“Anybody can come to enjoy the illuminations, young or old, with or without children, and they are perfect for romantic evenings in our quieter times which tend to be Mondays to Thursdays in November and early December.”
This investment follows the opening of Stockeld Park’s £3.5 million children’s play centre called Playhive, which opened this summer.
It features a space, aeronautical, subaquatic and jungle themed areas, which are all connected by a 33-feet tall tower, which also comes with giant slides and a toddler zone.
Mr Grant added:
Historic Harrogate building set to put on a Halloween show“The Playhive has been very well received, I think as much as anything because it introduces a novel concept of a play space where adults and children can play together, and it gives us the ability to be an all-weather venue.”
A spectacularly spooky light show will be held at a historic building in Harrogate this weekend.
The Chapel on Grove Road will celebrate the occasion with its first ever display, complete with projected images, creepy smoke and themed music.
Owner Mark Hinchliffe said he hoped the free display would be enjoyed by people of all ages:
“It’s a bit mad – when you get one of those ideas and think, ‘what a great Halloween thing to do opposite the cemetery and on the road so you can see it easily’.
“It’s local, in town, and people can come and see it.”
Although the concept came from Mr Hinchliffe and his partner Heidi, they say they have had a huge amount of support from other local businesses.
FTAV has put together the programme of projection, lighting and effects, while Studio One and Kall Kwik helped with producing publicity material to promote the event.
In full costume, the couple will be greeting visitors with sweets donated by Asda, Waitrose and The Serious Sweet Company.
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The show will run on Sunday, October 30 as well as Halloween itself, Monday, October 31, from 6pm to 8pm each day.
It may only be two days long, but Mr Hinchliffe has already set his sights on something more extensive for the next significant event in the calendar. He said:
“If I do things, I like to make it really visual. I’m a creative and I’m a bit bonkers.
“It all started with Halloween and now I’ve had another idea of doing a Santa’s grotto. I’ve found an antique sleigh to die for – it’s 2.5m from North America, about 1900, with a double button cushioned seat. It’s the real thing.”
Details of the grotto will be confirmed nearer the time, but Mr Hinchliffe said he hoped to tie it in to Harrogate’s other Christmas celebrations for the benefit of the whole community.