There will be no Winter Wonderland in Cardiff this year but the annual festive event will be replaced by Christmas at the Castle.
Christmas at the Castle will run from Thursday, November 12 to Sunday, January 3, and will offer a number of festive outdoor activities.
Visitors will be able to wrap up warm for an ice walk, spin on the 33m big wheel, enjoy fairground rides and more which will run alongside Cardiff Castle's programme planned activities such as the Victorian Santa tours, the Keep dining experience and the Lone Stag bar.
The open-air ice walk will be one attraction, along the lines of the one introduced at Winter Wonderland last year but with a wider pathway, to allow greater social distancing and with limited capacity. Visitors will skate along a weaved ice trail through the castle while maintaining distance from others.
There's also a 33m high big wheel and a small selection of festive family rides and games.
The wheel and the rides will be outside the castle in the moat area as will the ski hut-style food and drink seating area with an Alpine resort theme, which will be lit and heated. An app-based ordering system will operate for table service in this area.
Also around the ice walk there will be more outdoor seating for food and drink including a marshmallow firepit.
Visitors will pay for each attraction individually with pre-booking required for the ice walk only. Bookings will be available online (go here) so that visitors can be track and traced. Face masks are compulsory only in the skate hire marquee as all other facilities are outdoor.
The attractions will be open from noon each day with the ice walk closing at 9pm on weekdays and 10pm on Fridays and Saturdays. The moat attractions are open until 10pm every night.
With 53 days to enjoy the festivities visitors are advised to avoid the likely busy periods, such as weekend evenings, so that social distancing can be maintained.
Norman George Sayers of Sayers Events said: "Obviously we’re not able to bring the usual scale of Winter Wonderland to Cardiff this year but we were determined to give the city a smile at Christmas so we’ve worked closely with Cardiff council and environmental health to gather a collection of outdoor attractions in and around the castle.
"Families have had a lot to bear in 2020 so they can be reassured that we are working tirelessly to make Christmas at the Castle as safe and enjoyable as possible. We hope this will also encourage people back into the city centre where they can get all their Christmas shopping and enjoy the traditional Christmas market."
Get some more festive cheer inside Seasons Christmas shop:
Christmas at the Castle will replace the Winter Wonderland event that usually is held in the Civic Centre.
To pre-book an ice walk visit https://cardiffcastle.ticketsrv.co.uk/tickets/
