{"id":353923,"date":"2025-08-18T10:17:15","date_gmt":"2025-08-18T10:17:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/353923\/"},"modified":"2025-08-18T10:17:15","modified_gmt":"2025-08-18T10:17:15","slug":"citys-christmas-event-takes-action-to-keep-up-with-unprecedented-demand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/353923\/","title":{"rendered":"City&#8217;s Christmas event takes action to keep up with &#8216;unprecedented demand&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The event has had to double its bookings for this year to fit everyone in<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/0_JS106224485.jpg\" alt=\"Santa at the Christmas Grotto at Dobbies Garden Centre in Speke\" loading=\"eager\"  \/>Santa at the Christmas Grotto at Dobbies Garden Centre in Speke<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">The first of Liverpool&#8217;s Christmas events has officially been announced. This upcoming festive season, Santa and his grotto will be stopping at Dobbie\u2019s city stores, and <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.liverpoolecho.co.uk\/all-about\/family-and-kids\" target=\"_self\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">families are invited to join <\/a>the celebrations.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Beginning the festivities is a free-to-attend morning event. On Sunday, November 23, Santa will host a seasonal storytelling session with community performances, said to be the best way to begin the <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.liverpoolecho.co.uk\/all-about\/christmas-events\" target=\"_self\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">Christmas countdown.<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Back by popular demand is <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.liverpoolecho.co.uk\/all-about\/christmas-events\" target=\"_self\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">Santa\u2019s Grotto<\/a> \u2013 this time with a North Pole adventure theme. Children at the <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.liverpoolecho.co.uk\/\" target=\"_self\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">Liverpool store<\/a> will journey through an ice-inspired world, playing polar games and enjoying festive activities before meeting Santa and receiving an age-appropriate gift.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Tickets start at \u00a314 per child and run from Sunday, November 23, to Christmas Eve. Quiet Grotto sessions are available on Friday, December 5, offering a more relaxed, inclusive experience for children with additional needs.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/1_Dobbies-Christmas-Grotto.png\" alt=\"Take your dog to meet Santa at Dobbies in Southport\" loading=\"lazy\"  \/>Take your dog to meet Santa at Dobbies(Image: Dobbies)<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Dogs can also participate in Santa Paws, an event specifically designed for family pets. Due to its growing popularity, Dobbies has doubled the booking slots to meet unprecedented demand.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Dogs will get the chance to visit Santa at Dobbies stores across the UK, take part in a game before getting a picture with Santa and take home a gift. This experience is priced at \u00a312.50 and is on the same dates as the grotto.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">In the restaurant, families can experience a morning at Santa\u2019s Breakfast, where the little ones get the chance to spend time with Santa and his elves.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/0_JS351483430.jpg\" alt=\"Christmas lights in Liverpool One\" loading=\"lazy\"  \/>Christmas lights in Liverpool One<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Families will enjoy a breakfast fit for Santa before taking part in games and activities. They\u2019ll then get to make their own winter character toy to name and take home.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">For adults looking to get creative, Dobbies\u2019 Liverpool store is hosting a Festive Wreath Making and Afternoon Tea Experience.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Dobbies\u2019 Green Team will host the demonstration, giving attendees the chance to ask questions along the way and create a bespoke wreath that you can take home and enjoy.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/1_Liverpool-Santa-Dash-2024.jpg\" alt=\"More than 8,000 participants, known as Santas, took part in the annual charity fundraising Liverpool Santa Dash event\" loading=\"lazy\"  \/>More than 8,000 participants, known as Santas, took part in the annual charity fundraising Liverpool Santa Dash event(Image: PA)<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Also returning this year is BTR&#8217;s annual Santa Dash. Last year\u2019s <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.liverpoolecho.co.uk\/whats-on\/whats-on-news\/unprecedented-liverpool-event-sells-out-32203251?service=responsive\" target=\"_self\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">Santa Dash attracted the highest number<\/a> of entries for a decade, with more than 8,500 entries.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">BTR Race Director Alan Rothwell said: &#8220;The last 18 months have seen BTR race numbers steadily rise for each event, with the Liverpool Half Marathon and Liverpool Santa Dash particularly standing out and moving up a level.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">The Liverpool Santa Dash is hosted as a fun run and as such does not impose an age restriction. Anyone can enter but the entry fee is the same for all ages (\u00a326).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The event has had to double its bookings for this year to fit everyone inSanta at the Christmas&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":353924,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8815],"tags":[748,35745,124933,393,4884,179,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-353923","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-liverpool","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-christmas","10":"tag-christmas-events","11":"tag-england","12":"tag-great-britain","13":"tag-liverpool","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115049257073592578","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/353923","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=353923"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/353923\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/353924"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=353923"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=353923"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=353923"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}