Castle Howard has surpassed itself for Christmas 2024.
It has created Alice’s Christmas Wonderland inside the 300-year-old house.
The stunning spectacle is an immersive experience, with the stately home dressed in set pieces, decorations, floristry, projections, lighting and sound, set to delight tens of thousands of visitors over the next seven weeks.
The centrepiece of the experience is a 27-foot Christmas tree in Castle Howard’s Great Hall, installed by a team of 22 using a specialist winch system.
The Great Hall – the crowning masterpiece of architect Sir John Vanbrugh’s design with its dome – is now home the grand tree decorated with thousands of ‘looking glass’ inspired decorations as part of the Wonderland theme.
The Alice’s Christmas Wonderland creative team CLW Event Design, headed up by Charlotte Lloyd Webber and Adrian Lillie, have worked on the project since January.
The installation process in the House takes two weeks to complete. Around 30,000 baubles are on display, with the creative team reusing and recycling products where possible and favouring more sustainable materials like paper and glass.
Northern theatre company Imitating The Dog have provided the projections and soundscapes. Unique musical compositions accompany each room in the house, alongside voiceover and poetry.
Castle Howard owner Nicholas Howard can be heard as part of the soundscape, welcoming visitors with a recitation of Lewis Carroll’s poem ‘All in the golden afternoon’, which prefaces the Alice in Wonderland story.
Castle Howard is also hosting a pop-up Bettys shop in their Stable Courtyard for Christmas.
This collaboration is a first for Bettys who has never before created a pop-up shop.
There’s also the Castle Howard’s Farm Shop with a Christmas food-to-order service, Courtyard Café with seasonal winter menu, Garden Centre selling British-grown Christmas trees, and hot chocolate trailer and marshmallow fire pit.
Castle Howard visitor attraction director Abbigail Ollive said: “We have pulled out all the stops this year to make Alice’s Christmas Wonderland our most magical yet.
“We hope the extra festive surprises, like the beautiful Bettys pop-up shop, Mad Hatter-hosted Afternoon Teas, and the bespoke soundscapes, will delight everyone who passes through our doors to deliver a truly unique and magical day out.
“Finally, we are so grateful to our fantastic sponsors, LNER and North York Moors National Park, who have supported our access shows and performances this year, helping us make our events more inclusive and welcoming.”
Castle Howard has employed an additional 130 seasonal staff, on top of their year-round workforce. They are also supported by an invaluable team of 200 volunteers.
Find out more on the website here.