Make Christmas magical at the Roald Dahl Museum
Friday 02 October
Join us for a whole host of festive fun
From the beginning of December you can enjoy some splendiferous seasonal activities at the Museum. Bring the family and get stuck in with Christmas crafts, family games, Santa visits and much more.
Make December weekends magical with all this included with admission:
- Charlie and the Chocolate Factory storytelling (with a rendition of Roald Dahl’s poem Mother Christmas thrown in for good measure!).
- Christmas crafts – make your own Christmas card or Christmas tree. Inspired by Roald Dahl’s Norwegian roots and his love of handmade cards.
- Christmas Bingo. Pick up your playing cards at the ticket desk and see who can spot all the characters around the Museum first.
- Charlie and the Chocolate Factory gallery trail. Find out some facsinating facts as you explore.
Santa Saturdays on 5 and 12 December
Don’t miss two very special Saturdays in December. Santa will be heading to the Museum and bringing some festive cheer with him. Choose to meet him in the galleries to say hello and get a chocolate treat, or enjoy some special time together in our Splendiferous Santa Tea. You’ll get a selection of sweet and savoury treats, hot chocolate (mulled wine for the adults!) time with Santa at your table and a special gift.
Twixmas!
Between Christmas and New Year join us to get out of the house, stretch your legs and spend some quality family time together.
Each day you can:
- Play some giant family games including Fantastic Mr Fox cornhole, play with our BFG-sized Roald Dahl character Guess Who, compete at giant Charlie versus Wonka Connect 4, or simply enjoy a seasonal game of snowball toss.
- Enjoy storytelling and explore the galleries with a Museum trail to help you explore.
- Pick up a Village or Countryside trail. Head out of the Museum and explore the local sights that inspired the stories in the village and surrounding countryside.
Book your Christmas visit
To add any workshops, please book your general admission first. You'll then be given the option to add any workshops running that day.
Christmas FAQs
We are open Thursday to Sunday from 5 December.
Over the Christmas holidays we are open on the following dates:
Thursday 17 to Tuesday 22 December
Sunday 27 to Thursday 31 December
Saturday 2 and Sunday 3 January
We recommend booking general admission in advance, especially for our Santa Saturdays on 5 and 12 December as we expect these dates to be busy.
For other dates you can usually purchase general admission tickets on the door, although we do recommend pre-booking just to ensure we have tickets available.
We strongly advise that you book for any workshops in advance as these have limited availability and can often sell out.
Booking information
We have a packed programme of activity happening over Christmas including Santa visits, storytelling, Christmas crafts, magic shows, family games and more.
Some of these such as drop-in crafts, gallery trails and storytelling, are included with your admission. Other activities are ticketed in addition to your Museum entry and need to be booked in advance (any remining tickets can be bought on the door).
You can find full details of our activities on the What’s On page.
See what’s onYou can see Santa on the following dates:
Saturday 5 and Saturday 12 December: Santa will be roaming the galleries at 10.30am to 11.30am. 12.30pm to 1.30pm. 3.30pm to 4.15pm. You can choose to go up to him and say hello/pose for a photo or hang back and wave. There’s no queueing system but you might need to wait your turn at busy times. Perfect for children who don’t want a formal Santa experience. Everyone can get a free chocolate treat from his Oompa-Loompa helpers. This is free with Museum admission, but we do recommend booking Museum admission in advance
A 2pm on these dates you can meet Santa during our Splendiferous Tea with Santa. This includes sweet and savoury treats, time with Santa at your table, hot chocolate (mulled wine for the adults) and a Roald Dahl gift. The experience should last about and hour and costs £25 adults and children in addition to Museum entry.
Monday 7 December. Santa will be making an appearance at our Titchy Toddlers Christmas special. This event runs from 10am to 12pm and is for children aged 4 and under. Santa will be making an appearance in the galleries during the session. This is informal and included with your Titchy Toddlers ticket. We recommend booking for Titchy Toddlers as these sessions usually sell out in advance and we expect the Christmas special to be very popular.
See our event son the What’s On page for full details.
See what’s onDon't
Around with words
The BFG
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