It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas at Dudley Zoo and Castle with Santa welcomed on site by singer and actress, Zoe Birkett.

Zoe, who is currently starring in Aladdin at Wolverhampton Grand Theatre, visited the Castle Hill attraction to officially open the zoo’s Christmas grotto and meet Santa and his reindeer.  DZC Marketing Manager, Andrea Hales, said:

“It’s fantastic to be able to welcome Father Christmas back to his Dudley Zoo grotto this year after a two-year absence due to covid.

“His elves have been busy over the last few weeks transforming the 11th century castle into ‘The Chronicles of Dudley Zoo’ which looks fantastic and as the local partner of the Grand Theatre’s pantomime, we were delighted Zoe was able to take time out of her busy schedule of Aladdin rehearsals to come and help us launch our Christmas festivities.”

From today until Christmas Eve, DZC is set to welcome thousands of excited families to the 40-acre site to meet with Santa and to visit his reindeer in their paddock, which has also been festively decorated for the occasion.

More than 60 real Norway spruce evergreen trees have also been added around the zoo, where they line the courtyard route to the grotto, as well as decorating the farm barn and Queen Mary Restaurant.

After Christmas the zoo’s gardeners will chip the trees to use as an inexpensive floor covering across the site or they’ll be given whole to some of the animals as seasonal enrichment.

Tickets for Santa’s grotto, not only includes a trip to the grotto on the Santa Express land train and a special gift presented in an exclusive DZC festive bag-for-life, but also zoo admission, allowing families the rest of the day to visit all the site’s animal species, including its many 2022 babies, who will be celebrating Christmas for the first time this year.

All Santa’s grotto tickets must be booked in advance by visiting dudleyzoo.org.uk or calling 01384 215313.