The fourth edition of Christmas at Wimpole has opened in spectacular style, with a new route and a host of new installations ready to wow visitors to the National Trust property until Sunday December 31.
The trail opened on November 24, providing after-dark festive fun for all the family at the beautiful Cambridgeshire property, which was bequeathed to the National Trust by Rudyard Kipling’s daughter in the 1970s.
Hilary Wilson, Wimpole’s experience and visitor programming manager, said: “We’ve been working hard for 10 months to bring this trail to life, and it’s wonderful to hear the many positive reviews we’ve received so far.
“Opening weekend went phenomenally well, with more than 2,500 visitors out to help us launch this year’s event.
“This is shaping up to be the best year yet for Christmas at Wimpole, with new installations and one of the longest light tunnels in the UK.
“Feedback online has been superb with some people even saying that they were moved to tears!
“The response has been so amazing that tickets are now selling like hotcakes, with some days almost sold out.
“Tickets are still available, and we’ll be adding more early evening time slots in the coming days. We hope that Christmas at Wimpole creates many happy memories for our visitors.”
Amongst a host of new installations for 2023 is Crystal Garden, by Output Arts, comprising clusters of glowing shards which sparkle and shimmer to create an enchanting display.
Studio Vertigo are displaying Nova and The Ghosts, the latter of which is built from natural recycled polypropylene, with structural elements created using folding techniques found in origami.
Pyrite Creative’s Light as a Feather is a series of steel feathers painted to glow in the dark, twisting and turning gracefully as though lifted by a sudden gust of wind.
One of the new features is Mycelium Network, by Stevie Thompson of Custom Fibre Optics.
Stevie explained the origins of the idea: “Apart from being completely obsessed and passionate about fibre optic lighting, I’m also very interested and inspired by mushrooms too, with their magical and medicinal properties.
“So it was the perfect opportunity to collaborate both of my hobbies into a work of art.”
ArtAV’s Rainbow Trees and Spiral Spinners stand proudly along the edge of the trail route, while Woody Fox’s 12 Days of Christmas made from wicker uses colour, fabrics and recycled materials to create large-scale figures which illustrate the 12 days.
The North Devon artist is also bringing Bark Dancers to Wimpole for the first time.
There is also a chance to glimpse Father Christmas along the trail.
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