Winter Wonderland
Hyde Park NOVEMBER - JANUARY Free
Winter Wonderland is an annual German Market themed extravaganza. There's an abundance of things to do such as ice skating, circus acts, rollercoaster's, food stalls and bars aplenty. I've been to Winter Wonderland twice, once in 2011 and again this year where they were celebrating their 10th anniversary.
The first year I went was with a large group of friends, and whilst it was busy we all managed to remain together quite well. I recall dancing in log cabin bar's for most of the night as well as a massive tent which had kind of converted into a big outdoor club. Going again 5 years later, Winter Wonderland was much changed - with more rides, more food and generally feeling a hell of a lot larger. Gone were the log cabins (or at least I couldn't find them) and in place were big open bars with a lot of benches around them. Also gone was the big tent club with live performances, replaced with another big open wooden stage with more benches. The log cabins and tent dancefloor were missed, I must admit.
Hyde Park is truly transformed to a large scale German Christmas market with so much going on it's almost impossible to find it boring. The space is impressive, it must take a good while to set up, as well as a lot of money, yet the event remains free. When you consider the free entry, prices, although not extortionate, become a lot more reasonable.
I went this year just with my boyfriend Tom, we had to que to get in which was new (but went very quickly - I think no longer than 5 minutes). We spent a while having a look around before deciding to go on the two biggest roller coasters (£7 each) there - FYI I hate roller coasters. This actually turned out to be a lot of fun, followed by a German beer (£5) and some surprisingly tasty food - Tom got a pizza whose oven was contained within a very nice looking car (£8) and I got a hoisin duck wrap (£7) with some duck fat chips (£2.50) from the stand next door.
Despite losing some of what I thought made it great, Winter Wonderland remains an excellent way to get into the festive spirit. Go with some pals, an open mind, enough money to have fun and some patience for crowds. It's guaranteed to be a sure fire way to warm your winter.
OVERALL RATING: ****
http://hydeparkwinterwonderland.com/#TMUKUcDotYORKiPj.97
