Winterval, Ireland’s largest Christmas festival, and now the European City of Christmas, will return to Waterford in November and December for its 12th year with its biggest and most festive programme yet. Waterford, Ireland’s oldest city, will be transformed into a magical Winterval wonderland from Friday, November 15th until Monday, December 23rd 2024.
Brought to you by Waterford City and County Council, Winterval 2024 will see the return of lots of the original attractions, brand new events, and magical reimaginations of so many of the festival favourites. The European City of Christmas will be a world of Christmas celebration, magical experiences, festive family attractions, seasonal surprises and an abundance of free and ticketed events for all ages to enjoy.
Santa is coming back to Winterval
The Winterval elves have been hard at work preparing and planning for the magic of the annual Winterval Festival and of course, this year creating a great celebration to honour the title of Waterford holding the crown of the European City of Christmas for the first year.
Santa has made preliminary visits to Ireland’s Christmas Festival to ensure his elves are carrying out all of his tip-top plans for his return to the stunning 12th-century caverns that lie beneath the City’s Medieval Museum in the Viking Triangle. The magical space will be transformed for the official grand return of Santa at the 2024 Winterval Festival, which will take place in Waterford for the 12th year this November 15th to December 23rd 2024 where he will spread joy and holiday cheer to boys and girls of all ages.
Tickets for ‘Santa At Winterval’ are available for purchase for all the little boys and girls coming to the festival for a visit to Santa Claus,where a band of merry elves will lead little ones to a seat in Santa’s magical grotto and families can enjoy the photo stops and arts and crafts along the way too. The all-new Winterval grotto offers free tickets for adults, and visitors to the main man will each receive a present and printed family photograph. Santa will host little guests all the way through the festival until December 23rd, 2024.
At Winterval, Ireland’s Christmas Festival, there will be plenty to see and do before you ever head to Santa Claus, with the festival’s firm favourites including the Waterford Illuminates light show, Winterval on Ice, the Glenveagh Christmas Market at Winterval, The Trash Test Dummies Show, live choral sessions and music gigs and lots more set to dazzle and delight.
* Also available – Sensory Santa’s At Winterval
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“Trevor Darmody from the Waterford Academy of Music and Arts and I have been reliving our great Christmas pasts over the entire summer as we meet the fellow festive creators across Ireland and beyond.
We have a wonderful, surprising and delightful array of events and activities for all ages in the family and we can’t wait to unveil the full programme of events in the next few weeks too. For now, Santa has given his seal of approval and we are thrilled to say “tickets to see Santa at Winterval are now available.”
Further details of the 2023 Winterval Festival programme will be revealed over the coming weeks, for now, details on the Santa experience can be viewed and reservations made at www.winterval.ie
