Christmas 2023 is, of course, still more than three months away but it's not too early to start planning which big events you'd like to experience here in Wales. Now is a good time to book the shows, light trails and other festive events - and then you can forget about the baubles and tinsel for a while.
But by being organised it means that when December rolls around, you'll have the fun and festive activities already booked and you definitely won't miss out.
We've started to round up all the Christmas events you can book right now and we shall be adding to this list as more pop up, so please, email kathryn.williams@walesonline.co.uk or @stephanie.colderick@walesonline.co.uk and we'll take a look.
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Santa's Toy Mine, Rhondda
Go and see the big man at the Welsh Coal Mining Experience, Rhondda Heritage Park, as Santa Claus transforms the former Lewis Merthyr Colliery into a magical grotto for the season.
Dates run from November 25 to Christmas Eve and can be booked here.
Cardiff Christmas Festival
This event, which will run from Friday, December 1 to Sunday, December 24, presents three live shows filled with family fun, jaw-dropping cabaret and a BGT choir. The shows will be performed in the ornate and intimate 550-seat Fortuna Spiegeltent in the beautiful surroundings of Sophia Gardens and promises to transport audiences to a nostalgic and magical world. Last year the shows were at Cardiff Castle.
Santa's Wish and Castellana will be returning and a new show, Welsh of the West End, will also take place during this year's festival and see some of Wales' top singers perform a one-off concert, for full details on the event, click here. Tickets are on sale for the festival now and you can buy them at seetickets.com.
Luminate, Carmarthenshire and Port Talbot
The spectacular light trail returns to two Welsh locations for Christmas 2023. From Wednesday, November 22 to Sunday, December 31 it's at Margam Park and from Wednesday, November 29 to Sunday, December 24 it's at the National Botanic Garden of Wales in Carmarthenshire. There's a mile-long walk at both locations with interactive elements, ambient music and beautiful light displays.
For more on these events and to book tickets, click here.
Bute Park Light Trail, Cardiff
Another light trail, this time in the centre of Cardiff, where it's been for the past two Christmases. Event organisers promise that this year's trail will be "longer, brighter & more festive than ever before!"
In previous years the trail was 1.4km and you were transported to a sparkling world of light and colour as you walked through the magical Starlit Boulevard and "light canyon", which was decorated with "a thousand mesmerising stars". The start date for this year's event is Friday, November 24 and it will run until January 1, 2024.
Forage Christmas Experience, Vale of Glamorgan
Meet Father Christmas, see the Elf show and see some alpacas before roasting marshmallows at the Vale of Glamorgan farm shop, which is once again putting on a Christmassy experience.
Dates over the weekends in December as well as weekdays in the run up to Christmas Day. More, here.
Santa Train Rides, across Wales
Get swept away by the magic of Christmas and meet Father Christmas while on a vintage steam train. There are sites around Wales that offer this gorgeously seasonal day out including, Blaenavon Heritage Railway (From Saturday, December 2 and on weekends throughout), Brecon Mountain Railway from Saturday, November 25 and selected dates up until Christmas week). Tickets go on sale this month for the former and are already on sale for the latter.
Swansea's Winter Wonderland at Gower Fresh
A favourite with many for a day trip, Gower Fresh Christmas Tree farm brings us sunflower fields in the summer, Halloween fun in autumn and their big Christmas grotto in December - and a little of November, too, as it opens on November 25. Take a trip through a snowy winter wonderland and meet the big man himself! Book for Gower Fresh, here.
Pantomimes in Wales
- Jac and the Beanstalk is on at Cardiff's New Theatre from Saturday, December 9 - book tickets, here.
- Beauty and the Beast at The Riverfront, Newport, from November 29 - January 6. Book here.
- Cinderella is at the Swansea Grand from December 9 to January 7. Tickets, here.
- It's Jack and the Beanstalk again at Carmarthen's Lyric, from December 14 to December 28. Click here.
- RCT's theatres, Parc & Dare in Treorchy and Aberdare's Coliseum have Cinderella, too. For details of dates and tickets, click here.
Aladdin, Cardiff
The Christmas show at the Wales Millennium Centre this year is the Disney stage musical version of Aladdin.
With astonishing special effects, over 350 lavish costumes and a fabulous cast and live orchestra, Aladdin features all the songs from the classic Academy Award-winning film including Friend Like Me, Arabian Nights, and A Whole New World.
