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

LaplandUK: The magical Christmas must-do that’s harder to get tickets to than Glastonbury