Owner Nick Laister says: “We will be holding a Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities (SEND) Day on Friday 9th December and two SEND evenings, from 5pm to 6pm on Tuesday 13th and Wednesday 14th December, where families with children who have special needs can experience the Christmas Fairytale in a more relaxed atmosphere. We have experimented with SEND evenings before, which have been oversubscribed, so this year we are launching our first ever full SEND event day.”

Nick explains how this will differ from other event days: “On the SEND Day, visits to the Grotto will start at 10am and run through to 5pm. On the SEND Evenings, visits will be from 5pm to 6pm. For the evening sessions, the entire Farm will be closed to other visitors and the Christmas Fairytale will be a relaxing experience, and can be tailored to your own child’s individual needs. On the SEND Day, although the Farm will be open to visitors, it is expected to be very quiet, and the Christmas Fairytale event will only be available to SEND visitors, so again will be a relaxing experience. 

Nick adds: “Please note that these sessions are only for children with special needs and/or disabilities and their families, so if you do not have people with special needs in your family we ask that you book on another date please.”

The SEND Day is part of the Farm’s 10th Christmas Fairytale event, the first of which being held in 2013. 

Nick Laister says: “The Christmas Fairytale event runs on Saturdays and Sundays from 3rd to 11th December, then daily from 12th December to Christmas Eve. Our Grotto is open until 5pm, except on Saturday and Sunday 10th and 11th and from 17th to 23rd December, when it remains open until 7pm.”

Tickets are available online only, and as this event normally sells out the organisers recommend booking well in advance. 

Nick explains how this magical and immersive event works: “You will enter a beautiful Fairytale Castle and start your journey from the South Pole to the North Pole. You will meet some interactive dancing penguins, visit the Toymaker in his cosy log cabin and see Santa’s sleigh ready to launch into a clear night sky of twinkling stars. Then you will walk through the Secret Forest to meet Father Christmas himself in his charming Grotto, which evokes an atmosphere of Christmas past.”

Nick says that he believes that the Christmas Fairytale event differs from many other Christmas events because it isn’t rushed: “Our aim is to provide a relaxed and personal visit to the Grotto, with time for your entire family to meet and greet Santa, take your own photographs with him, and watch your children’s faces light up as Santa gives each of them a wrapped present. Santa is just how you would expect him to be – magical, very friendly and wanting to spend time chatting with your little ones, asking them what they would like for Christmas and if they have been good this year! “

Visitors to the event will also meet Jolly the Elf at the International Elf Post Sorting Station and Jolly will make sure every child’s wish list gets to the right place. Jolly will take visitors through some Elf Etiquette Training! Visitors can then discover their secret elf name, learn the ‘Elf Code’ and take the ‘Elf Oath’ to become a certified Trainee Santa Elf! 

Other festive treats include mulled wine and mince pies for the parents, trail activities on the Enchanted Walk, as well as a chance to experience our beautiful Christmas light trail, which is bigger and better for 2022, with spectacular new features.