'The Thursford Christmas Spectacular'

Well, they say that Christmas is the time of year to think about giving and I am very glad to say that a friend of mine has done a LOT of that in regard to me this year! The result of which being that I had an unexpected chance to visit the Thursford Christmas Spectacular last week!

Now, if you have not heard about the show before it is a three hour variety type stage show that features over 150 people and incorporates, music, dance, acrobatics & comedy in such a way as to paint as many beautiful, emotive and funny pictures of the festive season as possible. In many ways its a bit like crossing the Circus with 'Saturday Night At The London Palladium' and as such is a fun experience for all the family!

I went by coach with Clive Richardson Tours (thoroughly recommended!) and stayed in the Comfort Hotel in Great Yarmouth. Thursford is about a 75 minute drive from Great Yarmouth but the Spectacular has grown so popular now that it is hard to find a hotel much closer than that with enough room for a coach party at a reasonable cost. The staff at the hotel were lovely actually - full of fun and prepared to do anything for you AND the food was good - so whatever the inconvenience of the location I was well satisfied!

Sadly, you are not allowed to take any photos of the performance itself nor take any videos or record any sounds so I can't show you anything here but I will say that, as long as you can put up with being seated in fairly narrow seats for three hours (there is a 25 minute interval to help give your knees a break) then the show itself is a 10/10 experience and well worth a visit - especially as not all of the show takes place on the stage - some of the performers actually stand in the aisles and perform making it rather an 'immersive' show rather than a 'spectators only' one. I did make sure to ask if photos in the other areas on the site are permitted though and was told 'Yes' - hence the pics you can see here.

The Entrance To 'Fantasy Land'

The site itself has plenty of other attractions aside from the Spectacular including some lovely, Christmassy places to eat, a few gift-shops and a TOTAL delight for you and the kids in the shape of 'Fantasy Land' where you can meet Santa, get a glimpse into the work he and his elves do in the run up to Christmas and see a 10 minute Christmas cartoon in 4D! That's quite an experience I can tell you!

A Glimpse Inside 'Fantasy Land'

It does cost £5 to visit 'Fantasy Land' but that includes the 4D Cartoon experience. BIG kids will LOVE glimpsing Santa's little helpers at work, listening to his singing and dancing penguins and dodging the snowballs thrown at you by naughty Polar Bears! I have no idea though how much it costs to visit Santa as, obviously as I am he, the man is an imposter! (lol)

If you go to the afternoon performance it is well worth taking your time AFTER the show to soak up some of the festive atmosphere! The shops on-site close after half time in the Spectacular but once it gets dark the whole site becomes a festive fairyland and you will only take an age to get out of the car park anyway because of the amount of coaches trying to get away before the next set arrive for the evening performance. Kids will LOVE the twinkling Reindeers and the multi coloured bulbs that make the Christmas trees look AMAZING!

'The Thursford Spectacular Site After Dark'

If you are reading this in East Sussex I would also recommend you go with Clive Richardson Tours. While some of Clive's jokes may have 'retired from Christmas crackers' he is a great bloke and knows a lot of interesting things about places, buildings, traditions and the Spectacular itself that he tells you from time to time to make the traveling itself less dull. There is also a wonderful sense of community on Clive's coach and no 'nasty' technology on the backs of the seats to 'drag you back to the life you should be trying to get away from', either. No, everything about a Clive Richardson Tour is about 'being a part of it' and having fun as much as possible as a group and that is lovely, if like me, you are on your own and can use the camaraderie.

I know from speaking to, Clive that this tour gets booked up really quickly each year so my advice if you want to have the 2020 show to look forward to is to book your place a.s.a.p.

If you'd like to find out more - go to Clive's website here http://cliverichardsontours.com where you can download his latest brochure/s for free!