The man behind Newry’s Winter Wonderland has said he plans on returning to the city next year to boost summer and Halloween events at the Albert Basin. Last week the Reporter revealed details of the £1.5m project which will take up residency on the Middlebank site from December 7 to January 5. This week speaking to the Reporter event organiser Philip Gaffney moved to dispel suggestions that the event could be ‘too’ good to be true. “I under sell and over deliver,” he said. “If you give the customer satisfaction they will come back. What will be here has never been seen. There is a vision for what needs to go in there. If you think you can put eight houses on an acre – this is a 15 acre site!” Among the items Mr Gaffney hopes to install on the site are a 60x30m ice rink that can accommodate up to 300 skaters at a time, a rollercoaster, a drive in cinema, 400sqftof food and drink marquees, crazy golf and a Santa experience – the first evidence of which the public will see before the end of November. “We have a team building it right now. Everything is done in modules and it will be on site on November 25. They are bringing it in convoy.” According to Philip tickets for the attractions will go on sale before the end of the month. “Hopefully tickets will be on sale by the end of the month we just have to finalise a couple of elements. I will be open from 12pm to 10pm and then 10am and 10pm during the holidays. We expect people to come back multiple times and we expect it to be sold out well in advance.” The Dublin native is also hoping to play a part in stimulating the broader Newry economy in the longer term. “People travel to Dublin so they will travel to Newry. This is a brilliant site and everyone knows where Newry is (from the cross border shopping boom) – now they have a good reason to come back. We are hoping businesses in the city feed from it as it brings extra cars, footfall and spend. I see the majority of customers coming in from the South. We are looking at three years. This event and then a summer wonderland event based around Irish mythology with rides simulators, small boats – a celebration of mythology. Then possibly a Zombie Island themed event next Halloween.”
Newry Reporter
16th October 2013
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