Free enchanted land with Santa and his elves set to open at Banbury's Castle Quay

Castle Quay in Banbury has created a free enchanted land inside the centre where children can meet Santa and his friendly elves on Saturday December 18 and on Monday December 20, Tuesday December 21, and Wednesday December 22.

The enchanted Christmas space will be open every day between 11am and 4pm, even when Santa isn’t visiting, for visitors to wander through and enjoy the splendour of the space.

Children will also be able to post letters to Santa in his magical post box – they will then receive personalised responses from Santa over email after their visit.

The enchanted land will be positioned opposite the centre’s Customer Services Desk. Santa’s bookable visit sessions are now fully booked, however some sessions may become available and on the day gaps may also appear, but are not guaranteed. The centre encourages you to check availability of time slots to visit Santa on the centre’s Eventbrite page.

Castle Quay is ready to welcome everyone this festive period and has installed new Christmas lights for visitors to admire.

For the very first time the lights inside Castle Quay Shopping, Lock29 and Castle Quay Waterfront will mirror the town’s Christmas lighting. A mix of classic and modern light pieces have been selected to bring the whole town together in a very magical and stylish way.

The Christmas light displays, which have been arranged by Banbury Town Council and Banbury Business Improvement District (BID), will also be projected onto the iconic Cornhill entrance to Castle Quay from 5 – 9.45pm every day throughout the festive period.

To help spread out the festive shopping, some stores at Castle Quay will be open later every Thursday in the lead up to Christmas Day to give customers a chance to beat the weekend busy periods and shop after work. Visitors are advised check with their preferred stores for their late shopping times.

Plus, guests will be able to take advantage of free parking at both Castle Quay car parks after 6pm as well as enjoy 10 per cent off at Lock29 food and drink vendors every Thursday between 6pm – 9pm.

Oliver Wren, centre director at Castle Quay Shopping Centre, said: “We know how costly Christmas can be, so this year we wanted to create an experience the whole community could enjoy on a regular basis.

"Santa will be popping in to amaze our shoppers throughout the Christmas period plus our enchanted land will be the perfect place for the little ones to post their letters to Santa. Everyone visiting can also enjoy our spectacular, new Christmas decorations - Castle Quay is definitely the ultimate Christmas destination this year.”