Christmas came early as the Duchess of Northumberland cut the ribbon on the world's largest play structure at the Alnwick Garden on Wednesday afternoon.
Hundreds of children were present for the opening of Lilidorei, a magical village where it's Christmas year-round. It is home to nine clans; including elves, hobgoblins and fairies; who worship the festive season, The clans are based around the six-slided Elfwin Drin, the central structure which at 26 metres, is taller than the Angel of the North.
The magical play park has been 12 years in the making and the designs have come from the imagination of the Duchess of Northumberland, Jane Percy. It was also supported by a £15 million-plus investment as part of the Borderlands Inclusive Growth Deal.
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It is hoped that the attraction will bring 200,000 visitors to Northumberland, many expected outside of the busy summer high season. The Duchess of Northumberland spoke of her delight at seeing the project come to fruition on Wednesday, telling ChronicleLive: "I'm very happy because I'm not seeing any children on their mobile phones!
"That was the point of Lilidorei, put your phones away and use your imagination and play and wonder what's going on. Lilidorei is a village there are a lot of questions and no answers and that's great, you do not see children on their mobile phones, incredible."
Despite opening on one of the hottest days of the year so far and in time for the May half-term holidays, The Duchess is already looking forward to the longer nights and winter months, when 2,000 Christmas trees will be lit up. She continued: "I think that a really important part of Lilidorei is that it's better at night."
She added: "When we turn on for Christmas or Halloween, Lilidorei goes completely mad, the three Santa's grottoes, it's always going to be snowing in Lilidorei, it's going to be the place to come. For the North East, it's going to very important, it's very easy in particular in Northumberland to see our beaches, our beautiful coastline, our wonderful history and castles, but what do you do in the winter?
"In the winter, people are going to come from around the UK to visit Lilidorei."
Though the project was born of the Duchess's imagination, Nathan Bonk is the man tasked with making the park come to life for its young visitors. He will lead the team of secret keepers and story keepers who will "help kids figure out" the magical village.
Nathan told ChronicleLive: "They're going to be here to help kids answer all the mysterious questions around the village, they're going to be here to help kids discover new parts of the village and play on the village green because play and imagination are the most important things in Lilidorei."
Nathan has moved from New York City to Northumberland to take on Lilidorei's "head of play" role, and says that he has already fallen in love with the North East. He finished: "I came over here for the Mr Gay Europe competition in August to help out some friends and I fell in love with Northumberland.
"I have absolutely loved it so far, I've been here six months and it feels like home. I'll be head of play here for as long as they want me."
Lilidorei is open to the public from Thursday May 25. For more information, visit the website.
Do you have plans to visit Lilidorei? Let us know!
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