A brand new Digital Winter Wonderland opens in Southport today!
The innovative new festive attraction can be found at Marble Place Shopping Centre on Chapel Street in Southport town centre.
It has been created by Southport BID in conjunction with local firm Immersive Interaction, and is among a number of exciting festive attractions designed to encourage people to come into Southport to do their Christmas shopping while also enjoying everything our town has to offer throughout December.
Fittingly, the new attraction opens on Small Business Saturday (4th December), a day when people are encouraged to support local firms at this important time of year.
This takes place between today and 23rd December, with bookings via www.southportbid.com for between 1-10 people.
£6 donation for groups of 1-5. £10 donation for groups of 5-10 (per group not per person). All donations will go to Southport Lifeboat.
The Digital Winter Wonderland is already fully booked this weekend, with tickets available across other days over the next three weeks.
A Southport BID spokesperson said: “The team has been busy putting the final touches to the Digital Winter Wonderland, which will be breathing some festive life into a vacant unit at Marble Place this Christmas.
“This weekend is fully booked, but there is still good availability in the weeks after, which you can book here – www.southportbid.com/digital-winter-wonderland
“The Digital Winter Wonderland is a sensory festive experience which takes place in an interactive room.
“Guests can touch the walls to influence games and activities, and even the floor responds to your every movement.
“There are activities such as splatting snowballs, discovering the Northern Lights and decorating Snowmen.”
Perfect for parents and children, groups and families, the sensory Christmas experience will allow people to interact with the room through different games and activities.
Groups of up to 10 can enjoy activities that include splatting snowballs, decorating snowmen, discovering the Northern Lights and putting up Christmas decorations. As well as festive-themed games, there will also be extra games to take part in.
The new Digital Winter Wonderland attraction has been created by Southport firm Immersive Interactive, which creates virtual worlds and shared experiences through creative software and content for exceptional learning.
People can expect a whole range of games, jam-packed into their 15 minutes. Come prepared to run around and get involved!
Immersive Interactive Director Peter Salt said: “Our company is based on Princes Street in Southport town centre. We provide interactive rooms and experiences all over the world.
“We were delighted to create this new Digital Winter Wonderland for people in Southport to enjoy this Christmas. We have created it bespoke for Southport BID.
“People can enter the experience and then watch it come to life as a winter wonderland. It is going to be a great Christmas experience for children, and for adults too – a lot of the time the adults are as taken aback by it as the children!
“I think all the plans Southport BID has for Christmas in Southport this year are excellent. After the tough two years everyone has had with the Covid pandemic, it is good to see everyone really looking forward to Christmas in Southport this year.”
All proceeds from the event will go to local organisation Southport Lifeboat.
Southport BID CEO Rachel Fitzgerald said: “We are extremely excited to have the Digital Winter Wonderland as part of our schedule of Christmas activities this year.
“We hope the room will provide a unique experience for Southport residents this Christmas, and offer another reason, amongst many, to visit town during the festive period.
“We’re also delighted to be bringing activity into a town centre retail unit that is currently vacant.
“Working in collaboration with local businesses and organisations is extremely important for us at Southport BID. It’s fantastic to be able to work with Immersive Interactive, to bring some festive fun with a cutting-edge, digital twist.”
Nick Porter from Southport Lifeboat said: “We are delighted that Southport BID and Immersive Interactive have chosen us as a charity that they’re supporting with the Winter Wonderland Event.
“We’re close to opening our new Southport Lifeboat station and are currently raising funds to pay for furnishing the inside of the building, so any funds raised will be spent on that.”
Southport BID has already unveiled a package of exciting new festive attractions which are designed to encourage more people to visit the town in the weeks leading up to Christmas.
Southport BID has also unveiled a number of other attractions designed to encourage people to visit the town this November and December including a new Gingerbread Trail, a Trail of Trees, Santa’s Grotto, a Frozen Grotto, Santa’s Sleigh, and more besides.
Southport BID has chosen to use an online booking system with one eye on Covid, to reduce the chance of queues forming and too many people gathering.
The BID has also made Southport sparkle this year through the completion of the ‘boulevard of light’, with 300,000 lights strung between the trees on both sides of the Lord Street shopping and dining boulevard.
The BID, through contractors IllumiDex UK Ltd, has installed this year’s Christmas decorations throughout the town centre.
Many places within Southport are also staging some great festive events, including Victoria Park, The Atkinson, Southport Market, Wayfarers Arcade, Bijou Cinema, Marble Place, Ocean Plaza, Central 12 and Southport Little Theatre.
For more details about what’s on in Southport this Christmas, please visit: southportbid.com
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