Chill Factore has announced a virtual Santa’s Grotto you can visit from the comfort of your own home this festive season.
There’s no denying Christmas is set to be a little different this year amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and with social distancing measures in place, but Chill Factore – the UK’s leading indoor snow complex – is “keeping the magic of Christmas alive” by letting children share their Christmas list with Santa via the power of video call.
With the help of some specially-trained elves, Santa has been brought up to date with all the latest technology, and will be available for exclusive live, interactive video calls with you and your little ones to guarantee good tidings.
From 5th – 24th December, Santa and his helpers will be in his magical grotto on Chill Factore’s real snow, before he flies off to make some very important deliveries, and this virtual grotto experience has the capability to dial in multiple callers and have them interacting on the same screen, which means you can safely bring your family together to enjoy the magic.
How brilliant is this?
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You can expect snow fall, mischievous elves and an interactive ‘Naughty – Nice’ometer’ – which measures on screen how good your little ones have been this year – with this live and bespoke call experience to spread festive cheer after a turbulent year.
Santa is looking forwards to welcoming you to his virtual grotto. With uncertainty around COVID-19 restrictions between now and Christmas day, Santa has teamed up with Chill Factore to offer a COVID secure grotto. Book your virtual grotto experience now! https://t.co/wDCOw73RfHpic.twitter.com/uk7psIkupA
Your grotto experience will also be recorded and sent to you by Santa’s helpers, so that you and your family can hold on to the memories forever.
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After all, it’s not every day that Santa calls.
And it’s not just homes that Santa will be calling from his magical Chill Factore grotto, as Chill Factore is also working closely with Saint Nick to bring this festive experience to the bedside of patients at Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) for free, helping to bring Christmas onto the wards and make it a home from home for those children being treated in hospital over the festive season.
Speaking on its new grotto experience, Morwenna Angove – CEO at Chill Factore – said: “We’re thrilled that Santa and his helpers are returning to our real snow slope again this year. Due to COVID-19 regulations, we cannot invite guests into the grotto as usual [so] working with our partners at Prestige Events Enterprises, we have set up these virtual calls so that children will still be able to see Santa safely this year through the power of video – something we’ve all grown to use more in 2020, including Santa.
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“We’re also proud to be working closely with Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity (GOSH Charity), ensuring that children who are in hospital over the festive period still get to see Santa.
“It promises to be a really special experience for the whole family, especially after the uncertainty of 2020.”
Chill Factore
The Santa Calls experience will run from Saturday 5th December – 24th December 2020 and each call will last around five minutes.
The experience can be booked from £20.99.
This price includes the call recording and the option to add multiple callers/screens, so that the whole family can be brought together, and you can also text SANTA to 70125 to donate £2 to Great Ormond Street Hospital Charity to support seriously ill children this Christmas time.
To book and find out more information, visit the Chill Factore website here.
What's On
The best things to do in Greater Manchester this week | 7 – 13 April 2025
Emily Sergeant
The sun has been shining high in the sky, and schools are out for the spring holidays.
Last week was a busy way to end a busy month packed full of all sorts of events and activities, but now that April is here in full bloom, there’s absolutely no shortage of things for the whole family to be getting up to in Greater Manchester – especially as schools across the region are now out for two whole weeks over Easter.
Finding it a bit tricky to pick what to do though?
We’ve chosen a few of the best bits for another edition of our ‘what’s on‘ guide, both free things, and those that’ll set you back a few pennies too, so here’s some of our recommendations.
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Easter Holiday Pass
Oxygen at MediaCity
Monday 7 April – onwards
Easter Holiday Pass / Credit: Jamie McPhilimey
Now that schools are out, families can get themselves one of Oxygen at MediaCity’s Easter Holiday Pass, which gives pass holders the chance to visit the newly-opened £2.5m indoor activity park on any five days of the two-week break for 60 minutes of ‘Open Play’.
Weekends and bank holidays are also included in the pass, so there’s plenty of time to go.
This isn’t just a circus, this is carnival magic at its finest.
Step right up and join the heart of the carnival spirit as Gandeys Circus proudly presents the 2025 Carnival Spectacular.
This is a show like no other… drom uproarious comedy, to breathtaking acrobatics, every act is a feast for the eyes with vibrant costumes, dazzling choreography, and show-stopping performances, making it a full-scale carnival extravaganza that rivals the excitement of any festive celebration.
British Heart Foundation is currently hosting a brand-new pop-up shop and vintage kilo sale, where you can buy clothing and other goods at a fixed price per kilogram, in Stretford town centre.
The charity has taken over the vacant unit next to JD Sports to provide the Stretford community with a charity shop filled with all sorts of vintage goods and thrifty finds.
Visitors will be able to sift through shelves stacked with major brands at bargain prices, making it the perfect way to sustainably stock up on wardrobe staples and revamp ready for spring.
Vue cinemas across Greater Manchester will be screening family-favourite films, and some new releases as well, all throughout this spring holidays… and the best bit? Prices start from a massively-affordable £2.50 a ticket.
Arriving in time for the school holidays, A Minecraft Movie welcomes fans to their favourite cubic wonderland, or the whole family can instead transport themselves into Disney’s reimagining of the 1937 classic Snow White if they’d prefer.
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Also returning to the big screen are some childhood classics like Wallace & Gromit: Curse of The Were-Rabbit.
The Giant Egg Hunt is back at RHS Garden Bridgewater this spring school holidays.
Running from 10am to 4pm daily, and suitable for children aged three and up, visitors are invited to follow the hunt around the Salford-based garden to find the hidden giant eggs, and once you’ve spotted them all, you’ll be rewarded with a free chocolatey treat to take home with you.
This year the trail is more exciting than ever too, because children have a special quest and ‘egg-nigma code’ to crack.
Did you see that one of Greater Manchester’s popular museums has been named the best free museum in the UK?
Now that schools are out for spring, plenty of parents, carers, and guardians across Greater Manchester will likely be looking for a ways to keep the kids entertained and educated while schools are out, and without having to break the bank too.
Luckily enough, Bolton Museum has taken the top spot in a list of the best free museums and galleries to visit in the whole of the UK.
Bolton Museum has been crowned the best free museum to visit in the UK / Credit: Bolton Council
The museum – which is on the Grade II-listed Le Mans Crescent in the town centre, and dates back to 1852 – has been a part of the leisure and education of Boltonians for over 120 years, and is home to one of the largest regional Egyptology collections in the UK, made up of over 10,000 archaeological objects.
There’s also an extensive local history section, with 38,000 objects from the 17th to 20th century relating to Bolton.
How about that Chester Zoo is giving away more than 30,000 free tickets to kids this year?
The UK’s largest charity zoo is on a mission to help nature to “survive and thrive”.
And so, in a bid to do just that, has announced that it will once again be handing out tens of thousands of tickets to schoolchildren for completely free of charge, so that they can explore the zoo up close and learn all about the inspiring work the conservation charity does.
With the hopes of empowering as many youngsters as possible, and sparking their passion for saving species once again, the zoo has now opened the scheme back up for the 2025/26 season – with a whopping 33,000 tickets available for schools, nurseries, and colleges to claim.
Those who secure tickets will have the opportunity to visit the zoo between this November and February 2026.
Even better yet, did you see that Chester Zoo has also recently opened a magnificent new African savannah habitat?
One of the largest habitats of its kind in the UK – spanning an area the size of 17 football pitches (22.5 acres) – Heart of Africa is home to dozens of African species, including giraffes, rhino, zebra, vultures, and meerkats.
There’s also new indoor habitats where you can see smaller species like never before, and even some habitats you can clamber inside too.
Read more about the Heart of Africa here.
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Operation Ouch! Brains, Bogies and You
Science and Industry Museum
Monday 7 April – onwards
Operation Ouch! Brains, Bogies and You / Credit: Science Museum Group
You can plunge headfirst into the incredible world of our senses at a new immersive museum exhibition that’s now arrived at the Science and Industry Museum.
Back by popular demand after a successful run over these past two years, but with a fresh new adventure lined up for 2025, Operation Ouch! is giving you the chance to journey through an ear canal covered in gooey wax, squeeze past sticky snot, and delve deeper into how our brains interpret the world.
Tickets to Operation Ouch! Brains, Bogies and You are now on sale, and visitors are being told to prepare themselves for an “epic exploration of the senses”.
Looking for more activities to do with your little Mancs at the Science and Industry Museum during the spring season?
Science shows, sensory activities, and a chance to discover what life is like for animals, are just some of the things you can do at one of the region’s best loved museums, as well as dive into five decades of retro gaming.
The Pac-Man Live Experience / Credit: The Manc Group
Prepare to wakka wakka and chomp your way around a maze, because a brand-new interactive experience has now landed in Manchester, and it’s brought the world of the iconic retro game Pac-Man to life.
This augmented reality game will have you sprinting your way around an ever-changing digital maze, dodging ghosts and collecting fruit as you go.
Costing £26 per person, you’ll be challenged to race your mates around the course in a bid to grab special items and tackle everything in your path, and if you rack up the the most points, then you’ll be declared champ.
An Edible Family in a Mobile Home / Credit: The Manc Group
An exciting new exhibition where all the sculptures inside are made of cakes, biscuits, and icing has now opened in Manchester – and yes, you are encouraged to tuck in.
You’ll be whizzed back in time to the 1970s at An Edible Family in a Mobile Home, down to the retro comedy playing on the telly, and over the coming weeks, members of the public will gradually eat the sculptures until there’s nothing left.
Even the walls at this new genius collaborative creation of artist Bobby Baker and Manchester’s-own Long Boi Bakes are decorated in icing, and it’s open down at Whitworth Art Gallery until 20 April.
Looking to get creative this spring, but without the kids this time though?
Not everyone has little Mancs in their lives, and even if they do, it doesn’t mean you can’t take some time for yourself, so here are two spring activity suggestions to flex those creative muscles across Greater Manchester.
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Bento Cake Workshop
Vanilla Ice Cakes
Bento Cake Workshop / Credit: The Manc Group
How cute is this? We’ve discovered a little workshop over in Chorlton where you can ice, pipe, garnish, and decorate a miniature bento cake just the way you want it, with the help of the experts at Vanilla Ice Cakes.
You can whip up your dream colour buttercream, personalise your fillings, and learn brand-new skills before heading home with this adorable little celebration cake of your own.
At Vanilla Ice Cakes in Chorlton, you’ll sit under the expert eye of owner Fiza, a master baker who’s been in the game for more than a decade, and she’ll guide you (and sometimes step in to help you) as you fumble your way through decorating your own cake.
Sken Studios might just be the most wholesome way to spend an afternoon in Greater Manchester.
Ran by the legend that is Sabira, she’ll guide you through the workshop, teaching you the proper techniques necessary to carve your ring out of wax.
The rings are completely customisable and can feature whatever kind of shape and design you feel most inspired by, then once the workshop is over, your ring is sent off to be cast in either silver or gold and a few weeks later is delivered straight to your doorstep.
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Fancy a pretty spring walk? Who doesn’t.
Some of the green spaces that wrap around Greater Manchester are in their prime right now, and that’s saying something considering they’re pretty spectacular all year round, so it couldn’t be a more perfect time for a spring walk.
We’re talking fields full of daffodils and bluebells and trees dripping with blossom.
Credit: Tess Boland (via Pexels)
Check out some of Greater Manchester’s best spring walks here, and see our round-up of five of the best places to see blossom blooming in our region this year here.
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Featured Image – Jamie McPhilimey | RHS | Chester Zoo
What's On
Vintage fashion sale to pop up in Greater Manchester with all proceeds going to charity
Emily Sergeant
A sustainable vintage fashion shop and kilo sale is popping up in a Greater Manchester town in a couple of days time.
And all the proceeds will go to a very-worthy charity.
Merely weeks after the UK’s largest vintage market descended on the iconic Victoria Baths in Manchester city centre, another sustainable fashion event will be popping up in one of the region’s popular shopping centres for the month.
British Heart Foundation will be hosting a brand-new pop-up shop and vintage kilo sale, where you can buy clothing and other goods at a fixed price per kilogram, in Stretford town centre.
Opening its doors this Saturday (5 April), the charity will be taking over the vacant unit that’s next door to JD Sports to provide the Stretford community with a charity shop filled with all sorts of vintage goods and thrifty finds.
Visitors will be able to sift through shelves stacked with major brands at bargain prices, making it the perfect way to sustainably stock up on wardrobe staples and revamp ready for spring.
A vintage fashion sale is popping up in a Greater Manchester town centre with all proceeds going to charity / Credit: Supplied
All proceeds from the pop-up shop will go directly to the British Heart Foundation, helping to fund vital research into cures and treatments for heart and circulatory diseases, so whether you’re a fashion lover, an avid bargain hunter, or you simply just want to support a good cause, you know where to head on down to.
Running right through until 19 April, this venture is set to be a massively-valuable new addition to Stretford town centre.
Emily Sergeant -
16th November 2020 
