please empty your brain below
I enjoyed that. When I first read about it, I thought it was a parody. Obviously now it is real I am utterly delighted.

Tim | 22.12.17 - 7:24 a.m. | #

I bet the organisers wish they'd sent you a pr invite now, so that your policy would have prevented coverage

Ian | 22.12.17 - 7:24 a.m. | #

Oh, they did send me a PR invite :)

Hi Diamond Geezer,

I hope you're well. I'm getting in touch to invite you to the launch event for a brand new winter festival running throughout December. At the event the organisers will explain their vision for the site and what will be involved, also why it is unique and greatly differs from the traditional winter attraction concept.

I wondered if you may be able to make it? There will be an option to take a Thames Clipper taking guests to the site from Westminster pier, drinks and canapés and also entertainment from some of the performers who will feature as part of the attraction.

Thanks and best wishes,
Rupert

diamond geezer | Homepage | 22.12.17 - 7:38 a.m. | #

I'm actually curious what their 'vision' was now I've read this account of what actually appeared on the ground!

dg writes: See here.

Mike Newman | Homepage | 22.12.17 - 7:44 a.m. | #

No ice rinks in that area they claim? It's a very short ride on the DLR to Canary Wharf, where the ice rink always seems busy.
Thanks for the review, I obviously never missed anything.

IslandDweller | 22.12.17 - 7:56 a.m. | #

Think you might be a bit harsh. It sounds like it was unique, just not in the way the organisers intended.

shirokazan | 22.12.17 - 7:57 a.m. | #

This does highlight the good of the internet, almost every review recommended not going.

Charging for entry + PR hype = disappointment.

Still Anon | 22.12.17 - 8:10 a.m. | #

Echoing Shirokazan... At least they didn't say it was iconic as well.

Waterhouse | 22.12.17 - 8:11 a.m. | #

Oh bother! Yesterday I took a 'getting some exercise' walk round a very desolate Olympic Park when I could have taken a walk round a desolate Winter Festival. What a treat I missed!

Mind you, the two gents on the outdoor rowing machines near Carpenter's Lock were probably expending more energy than the organisers did in getting the WF ready.

RayL | 22.12.17 - 8:14 a.m. | #

There is no mention of where 'London's Most Unique Winter Festival Ever!' is located. Is that <snip> in the background?

BRIAN BERKE | Homepage | 22.12.17 - 8:35 a.m. | #

Disappointment seems to be a common response to winter events like this (or at least a media trope to fill pages in December). The one at Crystal Palace folded after a few days. And there are press stories about complaints about the ones in Kennilworth, Lancashire, Worcestershire, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Andrew | 22.12.17 - 8:57 a.m. | #

London does actually have at least one free ice rink this Christmas. It's in the Centre Court shopping centre in Wimbledon. I walked past it the other day. I can't say it's big and I sense the ice might be plastic but people were enjoying it.

ap | 22.12.17 - 9:05 a.m. | #

Thank you for allowing me to cross off the 'crap winter wonderland report' box on my Christmas Bingo! Just sad there are no donkeys dressed up as reindeer...

Steve | 22.12.17 - 9:17 a.m. | #

'Winter Wonderlands' always seem to go wrong and disappoint, I am not sure why people still go to them.

Adrian | 22.12.17 - 9:41 a.m. | #

Where's the Trade Description Act when you need it. It would be nice to see Councils' being proactive on these 'things' instead of just pocketing the license fees. I despair.

Ken | 22.12.17 - 9:50 a.m. | #

I love these type of posts, when DG cuts through the crap of PR and marketing speak, and the efforts he goes to so readers don't have to go there themselves - a real public service. There's something particularly British - a real pathos about these type of over-hyped yet underwhelming 'experiences'. £15!!

Bill | 22.12.17 - 10:38 a.m. | #

MN asked "I'm actually curious what their 'vision' was now I've read this account of what actually appeared on the ground!"

I think the "vision" was piles of cash :)

Agent X | 22.12.17 - 10:53 a.m. | #

"marketing people will merrily lie for cash, even at Christmas."

You don't mean 'even', you mean 'especially'.

David | 22.12.17 - 10:54 a.m. | #

You'd hope the organisers of things like this would learn. But they never do. There will no doubt be another one making the same mistakes next year.

Andrew Bowden | Homepage | 22.12.17 - 11:06 a.m. | #

Thanks for the report. Although I'm not generally prone to excessive grammar-related outrage, I will make the rather obvious comment that something is either unique or it isn't. More or most unique is just silly.

Malcolm | 22.12.17 - 11:44 a.m. | #

*Mental images of you going around here looking miserable in a flat cap sucking humbugs and humming 'Joy to the World'.

drD | Homepage | 22.12.17 - 11:45 a.m. | #

@Andrew

The odd thing is that, in Brixton, we have the same one making the same mistakes every year.

Winter Funland has been coming here for about seven years and has barely changed although the photographs in Brixton Buzz show that the length of time it is here has increased year on year, not that that has encouraged more people to use it in my observation despite the assertion on posters that it has returned due to popular demand.

A deathless exchange from this year:

Blogger: How's it going so far?
Employee: Shit.

It is not fraudulent, just mediocre. I have this dreadful vision of someone blowing tens of thousands of pounds on rides and other paraphernalia then being condemned to decades trying to recoup the money from people who want something a bit more sophisticated with "celebrities" in attendance ...

Alastair Scott | 22.12.17 - 11:58 a.m. | #

A more authentic Winter Wonderland experience is to hop on a bus or train to one of London's many wild areas (Bushy Park, Hampstead Heath, Hyde Park etc) and take a nice (free) walk through a forest or around a lake! Priceless.

Cornish Cockney | 22.12.17 - 2:41 p.m. | #

@Cornish Cockney (2:41) - Agreed, except aren't large swathes of Hyde Park already covered by the original horror-fest that is "Winter Wonderland" ..?

Frank F | 22.12.17 - 4:39 p.m. | #

How can it be "most unique"? Things are either unique (one of a kind) or not. These people are cretins and deserve to go bust.

AndrewWS | 22.12.17 - 4:58 p.m. | #

so much about Christmas can be a disappointment...i set my sights low; as long as i'm warm and not hungry i count my blessings. anything else is a bonus.

Grumpy Anon | 22.12.17 - 5:27 p.m. | #

It looks suspiciously like this - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lapland_New_Forest

Stephen Bird | 22.12.17 - 7:17 p.m. | #

I see that the Guardian had not read DG and regurgitated the PR

https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2017/dec/20/ten-of-the-best-last-minute-christmas-and-new-year-activities-in-london

Martin | 27.12.17 - 10:44 a.m. | #











TridentScan v2.10.0 | Privacy Policy