A winter light trail around Tatton Park with a difference at Yuletide. A Glittering Trail with puppets, fire juggling, storytelling and music.
I always love a visit to Tatton Gardens, so I was really excited to see how the fantastic team
at Wild Rumpus turned the National Trust Gardens into a Winter Wonderland this Christmas.
Wild Rumpus are the people behind JustSo Festival and The Lanterns at Chester Zoo, so you're in good hands.
The glittering Yuletide Adventure started as soon as you stepped inside the walled gardens. The world of folklore, festive traditions, and rituals came to life with colourful characters and creatures everywhere.
Roasting marshmallows around the campfire while listening to enchanted stories told of festive folklore. Enjoy live music inside a tipi tent and fire juggling shows before embarking on the adventure that is The Glittering Trail.
Top Info
• The fire juggling is on for 20 minutes each hour so you can watch this before or after you do the trail.
• The trail is about 1km and a circular loop. The trail is flat and suitable for pushchairs and wheelchairs.
• The book about Yuletide is available from the box office for £10. We didn’t get the book and we were still able to enjoy the trail. It would make a nice keepsake though.
• There are hot drinks, marshmallows, a small bar plus waffles and Dutch mini pancakes available in the gardens.
• If you want savory food this is just outside the gardens, in the stable yard. Here you can get pizzas and loaded fries.
• You would easily spend a few hours at Yuletide so dress appropriately. Wrap up warm.
• The only toilets are back out of the gardens in the stable yard. You are given a stamp on your hand so you can come and go during your time.
• Parking is free for Yuletide ticket holders.
• 24th Nov - 23rd Dec
• Mereheath Drive, Knutsford WA16 6QN
This is not your classic Christmas trail. You won't find "rocking around the Christmas tree" music playing as you wander around the festivities, it's magical folk music that changes the mood completely. It's still magical but in a totally different way. Like you’ve been transported to a different world or time.
Setting off on the trail, we instantly fell under the spell of Yuletide and were totally blown away with the first glimps of the Rainbow Bridge installation. The main long path up the gardens to the monument was filled with beams of rainbow light, which was stunning.
We met Jolbuck the goat, where the girls stirred his imaginary porridge, and when he was fed, he shook his head, making his bells jingle in enjoyment. Further along the path, we spotted the sun queen, dancing in the moonlight.
The Japanese Garden, one of the most striking parts of the garden, was normally covered by a blanket of red. The lights picked up the detail of the ornate bridge and pagoda perfectly.
One of our favourite characters was the Ursa Major bear and baby Ursa Minor bear. These puppet creatures glowed in the darkness and had such delicate movements that you almost forgot they were being controlled by a puppeteer. Every twist and turn in this magical garden brought with it something entirely new and unexpected.
Anyone familiar with JustSo festival will know how good the campfire stories are. Ian Douglas stands at the front of a circle of benches filled with an excited audience, he in his element at Yuletide delivering his tales with the usual mixture of wonder, mischief and wisdom.
After that, we huddled around the glow of the firepit and the girls stretched their arms with sticks loaded with marshmallows. The fire licked at them, making them bubble and start to burn.
Inside the garden there were hot drinks, sweet treats of waffles and Dutch pancakes, mulled wine and hot toddies. Outside the gardens you could get savory hot food including loaded fries and pizza. I wished there were a few more food stalls in general as the queues were quite long due to it being busy. And having to queue in the coffee line to just get marshmallows was a shame.
It runs on Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings from 3.00 pm with the last timeslot being 7.30 pm. There is also a special event running on the winter solstice (22nd December) where there will be additional programming such as processions.
For Yuletides website click here.
Press Visit Nov 2023
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