Everyone has seen the retro childhood photos of Bad Santas. Screaming toddlers on the laps of men wearing very suspect white beards and ill-fitting red suits in front of shoddily-made grottos. And while those set ups may deliver a dose of festive nostalgia that we love, today’s annual Father Christmas visit is a lot more convincing. That’s if you manage to get tickets, of course…

LaplandUK opened its snow-covered doors 16 years ago. Every November, 165 acres of Berkshire countryside is turned into the UK’s version of Lapland. From the beautiful wax-sealed invitations you receive in the post (they suggest putting them in the freezer for an hour before you give them to your children so they really do feel like they came from the North Pole!) to the online questionnaire you fill out in advance to give Santa some intel on your child, the thought and attention to detail involved makes this festive experience so convincingly magical it’s almost as special for the grown-ups as the children. Add snow- frosted trees, an ice skating rink, three immersive experiences (featuring Mrs Claus and Father Christmas’s workshop), reindeer, a sweet shop that would make Willy Wonka proud and the most convincing line-up of Father Christmases you’ll ever see, and you’ll see why the scramble for tickets – online booking opens in February! – gives Glastonbury a run for its money. Here, we speak to the co-founders and creative and executive producers, Mike and Alison Battle, about how they brought the magic of Christmas to life.

How did you bring your vision of LaplandUK to life?

Alison was working as a primary school teacher and I was a hedge fund manager working in the city. We had four sons under the age of four, and Christmas was a seminal moment in our household. Inside our home, we could create magic through our own activities and love for storytelling, but once we stepped outside for the time-honoured tradition of meeting Father Christmas things went wrong. We just couldn’t find a Christmas experience as special as the importance we placed on this precious moment of childhood.

Over a number of years, we travelled far and wide, visiting every Christmas experience we could think of, but none lived up to our dreams. Where was the scale? The storytelling? The believability? Father Christmas wouldn’t even know our boys’ names. We couldn’t understand why this precious moment of childhood belief wasn’t being properly honoured.

Why do you think people crave the traditions and magic of Christmas more than ever before?

For us Christmas defines childhood. It’s a seminal moment in the year to honour the awe and wonder of a child’s innocent belief and also the time of the year when we most connect with our own inner child and recall feelings of our own childhood. The years of belief are bittersweet because they are so fleeting, and that’s why it’s so important to cherish the moment and capture the memories. In the wake of the pandemic, a period of time when so many people lost out on making valuable memories with family and friends, people are more aware than ever of the importance of connection and are prioritising the opportunities to revel in the joy of being amongst loved ones. The story of Christmas brings us back to the things in life which are most important: family, love, inclusion and kindness. And most especially, our children.

You’ve managed to create something that feels otherworldly an hour outside of London. How involved are you in the creative process?

We wanted to build a beautiful story to surround Father Christmas, placing him at the heart of a magical world complete with over 30 original Elven characters, who live and work alongside him. This world, which grew from our imagination, has become a series of six best-selling books (with more on the way), covering themes of inclusion, diversity and kindness. Authenticity has always been paramount to us, which is why LaplandUK had to be set in a real woodland location. Once we’d worked with The Forestry Commission to secure our forest, we then brought together Bavarian and British artists who could help us bring our characters to life. We then sought the help of the very best Hollywood set and costume designers, as well as West End theatre producers and actors, to make our vision for LaplandUK a reality. Now our ever growing and hugely talented group of over 1,000 cast and crew come together each year from November 11 to Christmas Eve, to continue telling our stories on an unprecedented scale and quality, placing LaplandUK at the forefront of the theatrical immersive movement. We’re as involved in the creation of LaplandUK now as we were when we began. This year, we will be unveiling a new, hand painted toy factory, which was inspired by our own visit to the town of Oberragamau, Germany in 2022 where we saw traditional tales being told with hand painted illustrations on house walls. We felt this would work beautifully at LaplandUK too, telling our own stories.

It must feel special to have created such a successful business out of making children happy, what’s your favourite memory of your journey so far?

LaplandUK has brought us so many moments of joy, they are almost impossible to count. There have certainly been some pinch me moments, such as walking through the forest with Elton John as he serenaded us with Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer or meeting our late queen who described Lapland as “splendid”. Since our very first year in 2007 we have run specially adapted days for children with additional needs and life-limiting illnesses which we call our Superstar Days. These days are some of our very favourites and incredibly rewarding and we feel truly honoured to be bringing Christmas magic and memories to treasure for these amazing families.

Standard tickets from £59-£149 (currently sold out but can sign up for cancellation tickets/2024 release here). 

The LaplandUK Foundation stories compendium is available to purchase, complete with brand new embossed sleeves for £30 from the official Lapland UK store