The York Nutcracker Trail is returning – with a global twist!
The memorable trail from York Bid is once again set to take the city on a festive journey, this year in collaboration with York-based artist MarcoLooks.
The theme for 2024 is Christmas Around the World – with 10 Nutcracker sculptures designed to represent a different country, with colours and landmarks that reflect York’s diverse communities.
The York Nutcracker Trail runs from Thursday 14 November to Wednesday 1 January 2025.
Trail maps can be picked up from the Visit York Visitor Information Centre on Parliament Street from Thursday. Each Nutcracker is themed to reflect a specific country, using colours from its national flag and landmarks.
Marc Godfrey-Murphy, also known as MarcoLooks, is the artist behind all 10 sculptures. He founded his illustration studio in York in 2018, after working as an animator on popular CBeebies shows like Numberblocks and Tree Fu Tom.
“Designing the York Christmas Nutcracker Trail for 2024 has been one of the most joyful projects I have ever had the privilege to work on,” said Marc.
“For me, it was also important to make the trail accessible. As an artist with a visual impairment (I only have one working eye), I wanted to offer something to help the people in our city who might be blind or live with severe visual impairments to engage with the trail too.
“With the help of the RNIB’s transcriptions team, I have been able to add braille to the collar of every Nutcracker, to share which country is being celebrated on each statue.”
There’s also a chance to win a £250 York Gift Card! Use the clues on each Nutcracker to match it to the correct country, and record your answers on the map. Completed entries can be submitted at the Visitor Information Centre or Santa’s Post Box in Museum Gardens for your chance to win.
The project was created with input from the team at the community group City of York Council Our City Hub, including cultural integration and partnerships manager Bianca Vartic, community members and volunteers.
Rachel Bean, project manager at York Bid, said: “This project is all about celebrating togetherness and the wonderful communities that call York home. I want to say a huge thank you to Marc and to the Our City Hub team for making this project so special.”
Your design could be featured in the York Nutcracker Trail 2025! Young and budding artists are invited to download a Nutcracker template and create their own designs – submissions can be sent to [email protected].