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Christmas is extra special for the residents of the Capralama Reindeer Centre in Bethersden. There’s a herd of 100 reindeer, where there is now a Christmas grotto, a large, animated walk-through experience, open daily until Friday, December 23.
Visitors can stroke some of the herd, get a free Christmas hat and sweets, meet all the other farm animals and reptiles and play on the bouncy castle, boat play area and straw bale ball pit. There will also be an artificial snow play area and elf entertainers.
For details visit reindeercentre.co.uk
FROSTED FAIRGROUND
Grab some old-fashioned fun at Dreamland’s Frosted Fairground. The Margate pleasure park will be transformed for the festive period at weekends and holidays until Monday, January 2. As well as the vintage rides there’s yuletide treats each day. Join Teddy and Betty on the Garden Stage for their Christmas show, enjoy a pop-up panto or a Christmas tale told in the cosy comfort of the Secret Story Tent.
The Frosted Fairground will have Father Christmas’s grotto, carols and live music, not forgetting all the rides on offer – including the 1960s Waltzer, which arrived on site earlier this month. Visit dreamland.co.uk for details.
SANTA’S WORKSHOP
Visit Mrs Christmas’s workshop and see a seasonal panto, Peter Pan by Wiley Wolf Productions, while meeting the animals at the Rare Breeds Centre near Woodchurch.
Father Christmas will be popping in this weekend on Saturday, December 17 and Sunday, December 18, and again from Wednesday, December 21 to Friday, December 23.
For details go to rarebreeds.org.uk
WOODLAND FUN
Get closer to nature – and Santa – with the Kent Wildlife Trust. You can meet him and his elves in his woodland grotto at Tyland Barn Visitor Centre in Sandling, near Maidstone, on Saturday, December 17 and Sunday, December 18. Follow clues on a Christmas trail and warm up in the cafe with festive food. It costs £8 per child, including a gift. Visit kentwildlifetrust.org.uk
Join the elves at Groombridge Place for a day hunting Jack Frost and making reindeer food for Santa.
It is open until Friday, December 23, where you can write a letter to Father Christmas and visit the elves’ craft workshop. Festive stalls will be filled with mulled wine, candy floss, popcorn and gifts. Entry is £12.95 and £8.95 for children, with a family ticket £39.95. Visits to see Father Christmas are £11.95 and must be booked. Gingerbread making will also take place free between Tuesday, December 27 and Saturday, December 31. Visit groombridgeplace.com or call 01892 861444.
Santa has taken up residence at Bewl Water, near Lamberhurst, in his grotto overlooking the lake until Christmas Eve. Young visitors can meet him between 10am and 4pm each day.
There are also trips on board the Bewl Belle pleasure craft and the Santa Express plus you can pop into the cafe, which will be open between 10am and 4pm. Entry to the grotto is £8 for children and £3 for adults. A combined treasure hunt cruise on the Bewl Belle and trip on the Santa Express is £5. Trips leave on the hour, between 10am and 3pm. To book, go to bewlwater.co.uk, email Christmas@bewlwater.co.uk or call 01892 240567.
GATHER ROUND THE TREE
Festivities at Kings Hill include a 22ft Christmas tree next to the Control Tower in Liberty Square, a Christingle service on Sunday, December 18, at 4pm in the community centre and a Scratch Nativity Service, with Christmas crafts, at the Discovery School on Christmas Eve at 4pm. For details visit kings-hill.com and kingshillchurch.org.uk.
SANTA’S HELPERS
Meet Santa’s elf wrapping gifts in front of a roaring medieval fire at Canterbury Tales. The interactive attraction will hold a Christmas experience on Saturday, December 17 and Sunday, December 18, where younger visitors start their adventure at the Tabard Inn.
Here they can meet Santa’s elf, before heading along the snow-filled streets of old London, being entertained by carol singers and jolly pilgrims. Children can also write down their Christmas wishes and pop them in Santa’s special mail box. For details visit canterburytales.org.uk
WARM UP WITH A HUG
Hever Castle and Gardens marks 10 years of Christmas festivities this year.
For Once Upon a Castle, the rooms will be adorned with decorations, log fires and twinkling Christmas trees. There’s also a snowy trail in the beautiful grounds where the story of Jack and the Beanstalk will be told in the illuminated gardens at dusk.
On weekends and some weekdays, you can meet fairy tale characters and there will be a vintage fairground and carousel. You can also hug a husky on Saturday, December 17 and Sunday, December 18, and then daily from Wednesday, December 21 to Christmas Eve. Find out more at shwauk.org.uk and hevercastle.co.uk
THOSE WERE THE DAYS
The ground floor of Ightham Mote will be dressed for two different Christmas eras – Victorian and 1950s America.
Enter via the grand West Bridge to the ground floor of the house where you can see the servants prepare the feast for the guests in the Great Hall. The festivities at the national Trust property run until New Year’s Day, although the house is closed on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. For details go to nationaltrust.org.uk/ightham-mote.
MEET PADDINGTON
Paddington is the special guest at the Bluewater grotto, which is open until Christmas Eve.
Youngsters will be greeted at the entrance of the log cabin-style grotto and once inside, Bubbles the Elf will be transforming them into Santa’s helpers by sprinkling some Christmas magic.
They can then meet Paddington and search with him for Santa’s key to unlock the grotto door. At the end there’s a special Christmas gift. It costs £10 per child for a 40-minute experience. For details and to book go to bluewater.co.uk
The centre is also running its popular Giving Tree until Wednesday, December 21, at the Upper Mall near M&S, which helps provide gifts to local disadvantaged children.
A PERSONAL TOUCH
Seek out some handmade or one-off gifts at Whitefriars Christmas Market in Canterbury, which runs until Christmas Eve. There’s lots of decorations, food goodies and stalls offering gift wrapping services between 10am and 6pm Monday to Saturday and 10am to 5pm on Sundays. For details go to whitefriars.eu
The annual Christmas market, with more than 60 stalls, plus festive live musical entertainment and a nostalgic fairground with a Victorian carousel make up some of the festive fun at Leeds Castle.
The market will be open from 10am to 5pm on Saturday, December 17 and Sunday, December 18, plus Thursday, December 22 and Friday, December 23. Entry to the castle, gardens, Christmas market and the opportunity to see the Beatrix Potter scenes that celebrate the 150th anniversary of Beatrix Potter’s birth, including cheeky Peter Rabbit and Jeremy Fisher, are included in the standard admission price. Visit leeds-castle.com or call 01622 765400. The Beatrix Potter themed Tale of Christmas runs at Leeds Castle until Monday, January 2.
