Our Review of BeWILDerwood Presents Christmas – A Starry Night (Read This Before You Go!)

 A full review of BeWILDerwood Presents Christmas – A Starry Night. This event is a light walk and mini panto packed full of twinkly magic. We were gifted press tickets to this event to enable us to write this review. As always, all opinions are our own!

We’re spending Christmas in Norfolk this year, and we’re looking forward to embracing everything our own home county has to offer during the holiday season. So we were so excited when BeWILDerwood invited us to experience their Christmas event: one that we’ve never visited before.

Our Review of BeWILDerwood Presents Christmas

My boys LOVE BeWILDerwood, thanks to its playgrounds and endless opportunities for outdoor adventure (which these two boy scouts love), but it is worth noting that all of the play structures were closed during the BeWILDerwood Presents Christmas event. That’s because it’s a special event that starts after dusk, which means it’s a tad too dark to play!

So what is there to do?

Well, we wandered through thousands of twinkling lights that beautifully illuminated the trees and woodland walkways, took a break to drink Salted Caramel hot chocolate (which was delicious!), watched a pantomime with the elves and some special reindeer guests, and even had a quick chat with Santa as we wandered past his house in the woods.

Thinking of booking BeWILDerwood Presents Christmas – A Starry Night? Or perhaps you’ve already booked tickets, and you’re wondering what to expect? Here’s everything you need to know!

Heads up! This post may contain affiliate links, which means if you click and make a purchase, I might earn a very small commission – at no extra cost to you. This helps to keep the blog going. Thanks for the support!

What Is BeWILDerwood Presents Christmas – A Starry Night?

Here’s our full review of BeWILDerwood Presents Christmas! BeWILDerwood Presents Christmas is a wholesome and magical experience that’s been designed to appeal to the whole family. Kids will love the mini pantomime with the Bewilderwood characters and the change to catch a glimpse of Santa, but people of all ages (including my hard-to-please oldest, who turns 13 this week) will love the beautiful light walk through the woodland.

It’s the woodland walk that is the star attraction of the event for me. The panto was cute too, and some of the younger families surrounding us were really laughing away.

I thought it was a sweet show, and it was lovely to see Mildred and the Reindeer, but the boys said it was nice because it was only short (it’s a 20 minute interlude) and it gave them a chance to sit down, eat snacks, and break up the walk. We stopped to drink yummy salted caramel hot chocolates, and there were also sweet treats to buy here too.

BeWILDerwood Presents Christmas is an evening experience that you attend after dark so that you can really make the most of the lights and the magical atmosphere.

How Much Do Tickets Cost?

Tickets to BeWILDerwood Presents Christmas cost £17.50 per person, with both children and adults paying the same price. There are still tickets available, and you can buy these here.

We visited the event on its first weekend of opening (so I could get this review written as soon as possible for you guys), but you can also enjoy the event on  6th-7th, 13th-14th, 19th-23rd December 2025.

You have to choose your arrival timeslot when booking. These are 3pm, 4pm, 5pm, and 6pm. We opted for the 5pm timeslot, because we wanted to make sure it would be dark to see all the twinkly lights.

The whole experience lasted around an hour and 45 minutes. We went to the Norfolk BeWILDerwood (because we live in Norfolk) but the event is also taking place in Cheshire too.

Do You Meet Santa At The BeWILDerwood Christmas Event?

This is the question I’m asked most frequently about the BeWILDerwood presents Christmas event! Because Santa is an important guy during the festive season: but he’s also a busy man too!

BeWILDerwood has not created a traditional grotto experience. You won’t sit on Santa’s lap, tell him what you want for Christmas, and be given a present. But he does make a cameo appearance, as you’ll catch a glimpse of Santa as you walk through the woods, and he gives a wave to all the children.

We even managed to have a brief conversation with him, and he gathered all the children together to sing jingle bells before he said good bye, which was a lovely touch.

I appreciate that this low-impact approach to Santa isn’t something that all families are looking for, but I think it works really well for some families (including our own!) We have one believer and one non-believer in our household and I think this is a great magical, Christmassy event that appealed to both of them. It’s also a great choice for smaller, younger children who might not feel comfortable talking to a bearded stranger!

That we saw Santa was nice, but he really wasn’t the focus of this event and, if anything, I think that only made it even more special.

So how did Santa look? I wrote last week that our resident Santa expert declared that he met the real Santa at Norwich Winter Wonderland. At Bewilderwood Presents Christmas, he whispered to me that this was one of Santa’s helpers…. I hadn’t told the boys they would see him at all, so this didn’t detract from the experience for us, but it’s something to be aware of if your kids are asking questions and you’re looking for a Father Christmas with a real beard.

Do You Get a Gift?

If there’s no meet-and-greet with Santa then you won’t get a gift, right? Well actually, that’s wrong! All children will receive a copy of A Snowdance at BeWILDerwood book as they leave the park. We weren’t expecting this, but it was a really nice touch, and we read this to H as his bedtime story tonight. It’s a pretty book with a lovely story.

Is BeWILDerwood Presents Christmas – A Starry Night Worth It?

The short answer to this question is yes! BeWILDERwood Presents Christmas is well worth a visit.

Our boys are 9 and about to turn 13. The oldest was definitely too old for the pantomime, while the youngest enjoyed this but was probably at the top age range to enjoy the show. I would suggest this small aspect of the evening is best suited to children aged 10 and under.

But walking through the most beautiful woodland twinkling lights on a crips winter evening? There is no age limit for that and we all LOVED it! It looked so ethereal and beautiful, and I don’t think my photos have done it justice at all. We would definitely recommend this experience….and it also reminded the boys how much they love playing at BeWILDerwood, so now we’re making plans to go back in Spring too!

A HUGE thank you to BeWILDerwood for inviting us along so that we could write this review for you guys. We loved every minute of the experience.

Looking for other ideas for Christmassy things to do in Norfolk this year? Check out some of my other reviews below:

🎄 Our Review Of The Winter Wonderland Norwich 2025 
🎅5 Best Places To Meet Santa In Norfolk In 2025 (That You Can Book Now!)
🤶 25 Free Christmas Activities For Kids (With Printable Checklist)

WANT MORE POSTS LIKE THIS STRAIGHT TO YOUR INBOX? HIT SUBSCRIBE BELOW

Heads up! This post may contain affiliate links, which means if you click and make a purchase, I might earn a very small commission – at no extra cost to you. This helps to keep the blog going. Thanks for the support!