Kelvingrove Art Gallery to be transformed into million pound magical Christmas wonderland - Elfingrove

Events and voucher company itison has revealed its million pound immersive Christmas experience - Elfingrove.

Picture: itison

Elfingrove will be taking over the iconic Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum for the month of December, transforming the museum into a spectacular Christmas show where the inhabitants come to life and an ancient secret is revealed.

An experienced production team of over 60 people will create a magical night-time tour of the museum culminating in a show that promises to capture the true magic of Christmas using state of the art technology, sound and lighting.

After the success of last year's immersive Halloween show, GlasGLOW, itison are anticipating over 100,000 visitors to attend this festive spectacle.

Oli Norman, CEO of itison and creator of Elfingrove, who is investing over £1 million to launch Elfingrove said: “We’ve been working on Elfingrove for two years and are beyond excited to finally announce it to the people of Glasgow. Only me, my daughter and Santa know an ancient secret that we’ll be revealing for the first time at Elfingrove that will challenge everything you know about Christmas.

“At a time of great global and political turmoil with everyone’s thoughts dominated by Brexit and all things negative, it’s brilliant to unveil something epic that allows people to escape, be together and have fun!”

Running from the 5-23 December from 5.30pm each evening, Elfingrove is described as Night at the Museum meets GlasGLOW at Christmas and will take visitors on a spellbinding evening tour of Glasgow’s best-loved museum. Animals will prowl and roar, ancient warriors battle, The Glasgow Boys banter as paintings and statues take on a life of their own, and as for the Spitfire…

The show will include a 70-90 minute journey through the world of Elfingrove, which includes magical sound and light installations, and will culminate in a spectacular finale where the true magic of Christmas is revealed through an ancient secret.

Picture: itison

As well as the museum tour, itison will also be transforming Kelvingrove’s gardens. After being taken on a journey through the museum, visitors will emerge into a spectacular, fairy-lit winter wonderland where there will be gourmet street food trucks, a bar, Elfingrove's Silent Snow Disco and some all-singing, all-dancing festive surprises - all within the backdrop of Kelvingrove’s seasonally lit façade.Itison will also be creating The Elfingrove Legacy Fund (ELF) giving back to the local community and donating 1000 tickets to good causes.

Tickets and timing information

Earlybird tickets went on sale on Wednesday 2 October at 7.30am exclusively at the itison website, with prices from £8. Over 100,000 of these early bird tickets were snapped up as soon as they went on sale. Oli Norman, CEO of itison and creator of Elfingrove, said: “The reaction’s on par with some of the biggest stadium gigs in the UK which is just phenomenal for a brand new, home grown event.

“We’ve been planning for huge levels of extra traffic to itison and put extra measures in place to support this however we’re aware some folk experienced issues getting their tickets this morning and would like to apologise – we know how frustrating it can be. Most visitors were able to purchase without issue.

“As locals ourselves, we’re immensely proud and excited to be taking over the city’s most loved museum for what’s going to be a completely magical Christmas experience. Our elves have been working round the clock and the site is now stable with tickets still available.”

The museum will be open as normal each day, but from the 5 December to 23 December from 5.30pm – midnight, when the elves take over!

Ticket prices

Adult off peak - £12 (Mon – Thurs)Adult peak - £16 (Fri – Sun)Child off peak - £8 (Mon – Thurs)Child peak - £10 (Fri – Sun)Under 3s – FREE

There will be timeslots every 15 minutes from 5.30pm to midnight, so there’s something for all ages. With inspiration from iconic Christmas movies like Elf, the event is family friendly but definitely not just for the kids, making a brilliant date night, family get together or Christmas night out with friends or colleagues.