The inside story of Winter Wonderland
Deep Dives
Explore related topics with these Wikipedia articles, rewritten for enjoyable reading:
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Hyde Park, London
15 min read
The article centers on Winter Wonderland's transformation of Hyde Park. Understanding the park's royal history, its role as a site of public gatherings and protests, and its significance to London provides essential context for why this commercial takeover of public green space has become so controversial.
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Ari Emanuel
11 min read
The article reveals that Winter Wonderland was just acquired by a company founded by this Hollywood powerbroker. Emanuel's career as a talent agent, his role inspiring the Ari Gold character in Entourage, and his expansion into live events through Endeavor explains the commercial forces reshaping festive entertainment.
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Oktoberfest
1 min read
The article mentions the Bavarian Village with its steins and German beer as central to Winter Wonderland's appeal. Understanding the origins and massive commercial success of Munich's Oktoberfest illuminates how German beer hall culture became a global export and template for these types of pop-up festive events.
Back in the dog days of summer I asked Simon Usborne, one of the best features journalists in the country, to write the definitive inside story of Winter Wonderland — the sprawling event that takes over Hyde Park at this time of year. After a few months’ reporting, and as Christmas gets closer, we’re ready to bring you the tale of how it became London’s most divisive festive event.
Simon’s work normally appears in national newspapers — but this piece is exclusively for readers of London Centric. He has found a commercial juggernaut that the capital’s celebrities beg to be a part of. But behind it lie an allegation of employee drug-taking, a leaked staff handbook that instructs on how to “keep the magic alive” and a link to the tragic death of a young girl.
“There are no words that can adequately convey the sadness and remorse we feel”: The other side of Winter Wonderland
By Simon Usborne
Dig hard enough online and you’ll find a map of the Winter Wonderland site in its second year. It dates from 2008, a pre-smartphone era, when people might have needed help navigating the funfair in Hyde Park, now a mainstay of London’s festive calendar. Arranged along the traffic-free road between Hyde Park Corner and the Serpentine, Winter Wonderland featured a small ferris wheel, some bungee trampolines, a simulator based on the film Bee Movie, an ice rink, and a little Bavarian Village where a pint of imported beer cost £4.
Viewed today, the map of the 2008 event, featuring two dozen attractions, looks like an antique. The current-day Winter Wonderland, which opened its high-security gates on Friday, features more than 100 attractions, including a 70-metre ferris wheel and a flatpack rollercoaster that is transported in 50 articulated lorries. The hangar-like hall at the heart of the Bavarian Village can now seat up to 1,500 people drinking £7.95 pints of Gold — plus a £5 deposit for the stein.
In less than two decades, Winter Wonderland has spread north towards Marble Arch, becoming six times bigger than its original incarnation. It’s now large enough to cover Trafalgar Square 20 times. It employs more than 5,000 staff and attracts 3.5 million visitors each year. Seen from the Heathrow flightpath over central London, it
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