Aardman, the award-winning UK studio, is bringing its new holiday adventure, Wallace & Gromit: A Cracking Christmas Experience, to Cabot Circus in Bristol, UK.
This unique immersive experience for families, friends and Aardman aficionados will be taking place from 16 November until 24 December. Tickets are now on sale.
Ongoing cultural partnership
The Friary Building at Cabot Circus shopping centre has been turned into a festive and inventive family experience with this unique adventure with the beloved characters, Wallace and Gromit.
In A Cracking Christmas Experience, guests can help Wallace save Christmas by making sure the Christmas-O-Matic, his newest invention, works in time for the big day. Families can enjoy a sprinkle of Christmas spirit, a helping of holiday chaos, and all the cheesy fun you expect from the popular duo.
After their adventure, guests can visit the pop-up Cracking Christmas Cafe for sandwiches, cakes, and a cracking cup of tea. The cafe is open to all, including canine companions, with dog treats and puppuccinos also on the menu.
Additionally, Cabot Circus will spread holiday cheer with its yearly Giving Tree. The Giving Tree, which is situated beneath the shopping centre’s distinctive glass dome, focuses on bringing joy and giving back. Donations will support local nonprofits, such as NEXT Link and The Grand Appeal, which raises money for the Bristol Children’s Hospital.
The ticketed experience is the most recent in Bristol-based multi-award-winning studio Aardman’s series of cultural collaborations with Hammerson’s Cabot Circus destination. In 2023, a mural celebrating the city’s creativity was revealed in Quakers Friars, accompanied by workshops for aspiring animators.
Sarah Tinsley, director of marketing and placemaking at shopping centre operator Hammerson, says: “Cultural partnerships are just one of the exciting ways we are engaging our customers and creating new reasons to visit beyond shopping. Last year, our colourful mural with Aardman really captured visitor’s imaginations, so we are excited to be collaborating with them once again for a festive activation which not only champions local artists but also seeks to connect the community at the most magical time of the year.”
See also: Why IP partnerships make sense for our attractions: meet the experience creators
“We’re thrilled to be building on Aardman’s successful partnership with Hammerson this year, bringing the cracking world of Wallace & Gromit to Cabot Circus this Christmas!” says Emma Hardie, executive commercial and brand director, Aardman.
“It’s a wonderful immersive experience that really celebrates our favourite duo and their inventive charm, bringing families across the Southwest together to create some unforgettable festive memories. It’s such a joy to see our iconic home-grown characters spreading that Christmas spirit locally, especially as we lead up to the release of their new cinematic adventure!”
New Wallace & Gromit film
This year’s activation will build excitement for a new Wallace and Gromit film, Vengeance Most Fowl, which will be available on BBC in the UK and Netflix worldwide this winter.
Gromit’s worries that Wallace is growing overly reliant on his inventions are vindicated in the new film, as Wallace creates a “smart” gnome that appears to develop a mind of its own. As the plot unfolds it seems that a revenge-filled figure from the past might be behind things. Gromit must fight sinister forces and defend his owner, or Wallace may never be able to invent again.
Earlier this year, Aardman’s interactive Lloyd of the Flies ‘Bug Hunt’ augmented reality trail was hosted by the Royal Entomological Society Insect Garden at Stratford Cross in East London, UK. In this experience, children, families, and insect enthusiasts were invited to help Lloyd, the first non-human Royal Entomological Society Ambassador, in his journey to find his friends and bring them to the garden’s ‘luxury bug hotel’. Along the way, guests learned fun facts about the tiny but important creatures that are vital to life on our planet.
