A packed programme of festive fun will begin at W5 this week, as the arrival of Santa signals the start of Christmas celebrations at Northern Ireland’s favourite family destination.
Following a recent £5million investment, W5 has been completely reimagined. This festive season, explore over 200+ interactive exhibits, scale the heights on Climbit and try your hand at everything from TV production to optical illusions, and much, much more, with a cracking selection of additional Christmas experiences to enjoy during your visit.
Meet Santa
From Friday 26th November, Santa takes up residence in his magical new home inside the recently reimagined W5. The shop on W5’s ground floor has been transformed into a magical kingdom, with a series of charming shopfronts with festive window displays and twinkling lights, leading to a small winding alley, where you can meet the Big Man himself on selected dates through to Thursday 23rd December. Meet Santa is an add-on experience, priced at £10 per child and includes a gift. Capacity is limited and pre-booking is essential. Book online here.
Chrimbo Climbit
W5’s huge multi-storey climbing structure, Climbit has also been given a Christmas glow up, with a new immersive festive themed light and sound installation creating a multisensory climbing experience this winter. The enhanced festive Climbit experience launches this Friday, 26th November and entrance is free with admission to W5.
Aardman Animate It LIVE! at Christmas
W5 has teamed up with the world-famous, award-winning animation studio Aardman, creators of Wallace & Gromit, Shaun the Sheep and Morph to create an immersive live show with a festive twist!
From Friday 3rd December, W5’s new festive, interactive live show, Aardman Animate It LIVE! at Christmas will launch in AMAZE, W5’s immersive events space. Running on selected dates until Sunday 2nd January, the show will explore how animations are made, with a helping hand from Aardman’s favourite characters, a budding animator, director and an Aardman expert. Visitors will get top tips on how to create stop-frame animation and could even become the star of an animated movie! Entrance is free with admission, but capacity is limited, so pre-booking is essential. Book online here.
Aardman’s new half hour special ‘Shaun the Sheep: The Flight Before Christmas’ is being billed as a ‘must-see’ this Christmas. It arrives on BBC in the UK and Netflix this December – watch the trailer here. In the meantime, don’t miss Aardman’s new stop motion musical short, Robin Robin on Netflix from Wednesday 24th November.
W5 Late
If you’re looking for some child-free fun, don’t miss W5 Late on Thursday 16th December. W5 Late is a strictly adults-only, after-hours evening of interactive fun. At W5, fun has no age limit but for one night only, there are no kids allowed, and grown-ups are given the run of the place.
It wouldn’t be a night out in December without a few festive flourishes; a range of workshops, entertainment and experiences will make this the perfect alternative Christmas night out with friends. There will also be a fully licensed bar, where you can have a glass of wine or cold beer. Admission is £15 per person, or £24 if you would like to participate in a festive table decoration workshop. Capacity is limited, so pre-booking essential. Book online here.
If you are a current member, you should have received an email from us with details on how you can register for our membership portal to book your W5 and Christmas tickets. Please contact us here if you have not received this email.