Santa’s Grotto – Kommunity Newcastle

I don’t normally feature one-off events on Canny Food as it can be a little frustrating for readers. That said, I wanted to share something we went along to at the weekend and hope it returns to the Toon in 2018.

Santa’s Interactive Grotto was run by Big Red and The Little Greens, the brain child of Hildy Harland and Kim Tate. There are also two other company members/performers called Catherine Muckle and Ashley Waugh involved in the experience. The event happened at Kommunity on Market Street in Newcastle on Saturday and it felt as chilly as the North Pole when we entered!

When we arrived we were told in advance to use the phrase ‘Santa is expecting me’. It helped us enter into the spirit of things straight away as those involved all had characters to play. Even the staff from Wildflower – who provided the catering- were dressed up for the occasion and played along! It lasted around an hour, which was more than enough time to retain the interest of Dinky. There was singing and dancing, along with a reading from St. Nick.

For £15 little ones got the opportunity to be involved in an immerse journey which culminated in meeting the big man himself. Dinky received a gift and a cookie too. We find that with other Santa’s Grottos she’s not been able to use the gift given – often dairy chocolate- due to our veganism. It was great that we didn’t have to snatch it away from her because of its unsuitability. Parents whose children have allergies will probably be able to empathise here. She’s still a bit scared when meeting Santa so we’re trying to do plenty of these sorts of events this year to build up her tolerance. I think most toddlers can be a little shy at first.

I’ve included some photos – including the delicious vegan burger we enjoyed – and look forward to hearing more from the team in the future, You can find out more about Big Red and Little Greens here.

Thanks for reading,

Pip x