A farm park attraction has invested £250,000 into a new Christmas experience, creating 30 seasonal jobs.
Penkridge’s Lower Drayton Farm has transformed a former grain store into a magical Christmas town featuring fun activities to get families feeling festive.
Work to create the Christmas experience at the Bower family’s 700-acre farm has been ongoing since the summer, but farmer Richard Bower said it had been in the pipelines for much longer.
“Jingle Ville is the realisation of a vision that we’ve had for well over a decade – it brings to life the magical Christmas adventure we have always wanted our visitors to experience,” he said.
“It’s not just been about building a winter wonderland in a barn, but bringing together an amazing team – including elves, Santa, Mrs Claus and other characters who help make this a truly fun, immersive experience for families.”
The family first welcomed visitors to its farm attraction on the site over 10 years ago, but PLAY@Lower Drayton Farm – a series of indoor and outdoor play zones at the farm – in its current format launched in August 2020 after Covid-19 lockdown restrictions eased.
The site employs 67 people and is visited by 135,000 people a year.
However, this is the first time the attraction has invested this significantly in a standalone event.
The Christmas experience is said to be drawing “phenomenal” feedback from guests.
Upon arrival, each child is presented with their very own Jingle Ville passport before boarding a whimsical bus ride to the festive town, where Mrs Claus will welcome families to watch a seasonal film and find out whether Farmer Ray can help to save Christmas.
Little ones can complete their passports by taking part in activities such as meeting Santa, writing a letter to the North Pole, crafting a keepsake decoration, building a cuddly toy to take home, mixing up some reindeer food and choosing a toy from the elves’ workshop.
Kids also enjoy a delicious farm-fresh milkshake and grown-ups get a complimentary hot drink and families can also take home a carrot grown on the farm to leave out for Rudolph on Christmas Eve.
Once the Christmas period is over, the new space will be used for other events starting with an après ski party from 27 January. There are also plans in the pipelines for Easter and bonfire celebrations, and the new area will also provide more seating space for the farm’s Dino Discovery Maize Maze in the summer.
Lower Drayton Farm has also secured planning permission to make the barn into three storeys, creating more birthday party rooms and educational space for school visits.
