The Christmas Spectacular is a renowned event with people coming from afar to enjoy the magic of Christmas in Norfolk.
I didn’t know what to expect and I’m not over-keen on the whole Christmas shenanigans however, this is not just a spectacular, this is entertainment at its highest level. Honestly.
From the moment, you walk through the gates it is a feast for the senses. All the trees are wrapped in Christmas lights and there are lighted animals on the grass.
If you arrive in time you can visit the Enchanted Journey of Light which is both inside and outside. The winding path inside take you to different winter wonderland scenes with penguins and polar bears, then scenes where the elves are helping make the toys with Santa, scenes with teddy bears and all kinds of real and fantasy animals helping Santa with his factory and his sleigh. Most of the models are moving in some way which adds to the delight. We even saw monkeys doing the maintenance on the steam engines. The winding path outside was even more of a visual delight, there were 100s of luminous sculptures, again different scenes as you walked round: tropical, under the ocean, jungle, fantasy and more, the light sculptures were fantastic and I’ve not seen anything like it before. Full of wonderment.
Then we have the show! Oh and what a show! It’s an incredible, amazing spectacular of entertainment that will keep you smiling with joy all the way through. It’s filled with variety performances from chorus line dancers, an orchestra, jugglers, bag pipes, singers, acrobatics and an amazing choir and the most entertaining comedian who was also our compare and a talented pianist. The show room was decorated with an inch of its life, the lights were incredible and there were a million things hanging from the ceiling which included carousel horses. There was so much to look at all the time, there was an original carousel and even a gondola carousel in the ‘arena’. The stage was wide and was perfect for the amount entertainment that was presented to us.
With 130 performers, talented performers I hasten to add, the show was constantly engaging with a festival for the eyes and the ears. The production quality was amazing and there was not a foot or voice wrong anywhere through the whole evening. The many costumes were stunning. It was a variety performance filled to the brim with excitement and joyful wonder. The show tunes were incredible and the Christmas carols were enchanting. It was a long show, however as you were sucked into the amazing enthralments, you barely noticed.
The amount of decorations around the whole complex is enormous, I can’t even begin to guess how many lights were there. Everything looked utterly incredible.
Yes it’s a Christmas spectacular, why not? It’s a joyful time of year, it’s for all ages and there really is nothing to dislike. To be honest, even if you are a bit of a humbug I guarantee you would still be clapping with a smile on your face. This is an unique experience that needs to be experienced.
A completely stunning environment and an equally stunning show. Thursford Christmas Spectacular is running two shows per day until 23rd December.
Photo credits: Thursford Christmas Spectacular
This review first appeared on GrapevineLIVE.