ASHEVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) — The holiday spirit meets live outdoor theater at the Winter Wonder Walk. The 5th Annual Winter Wonder Walk, crafted by Asheville Plays! and hosted at the Adventure Center of Asheville, is an immersive, family-friendly stroll through the Kingdom of Winterland, a wintry story world filled with whimsical characters.
The Winter Wonder Walk opens to the public at 6 p.m., Dec. 5-6 and Dec. 12-14.
Tickets are $20, though ages 3 and under are free. Find tickets here.
Kids ages 10 and younger can also earn a free ticket to the event by reading 10 books before the event. Learn more about the program, “S’Mitten With Books,” here.
$1 of every ticket sold will be donated to MANNA FoodBank.
Open the Winter Wonder Walk storybook
This year, guests on the Winter Wonder Walk will literally enter a giant storybook. At each stop along the trail, participants will read an accompanying story page aloud and witness actors bringing the story to life. In this story, a blizzard has swept through Winterland, causing freezing all over the kingdom. Guests must go on a quest through the trail to find Jack Frost, the only one who can stop the blizzard.
Arica Haro, co-owner of Asheville Plays! and “specialized memory maker” for the Winter Wonder Walk, walked through a few stops on the trail. The entire experience is designed with a playful spirit and commitment to imagination.
“You go through Sugar Plums Factory. That’s in complete chaos, ’cause all the gears and machines are frozen,” Haro described. “Then, you’ll pass through a distressed train station elf, because the blizzard has frozen the tracks of the train and they can’t get the presents out on time. And then, as you will make your way through Winterland, you’re gonna meet the Peppermint Princess.”
Next, guests will enter a Woodland Gnome House, where gnomes are upset because their wishing well is frozen and “they can’t keep their gnome trees alive,” and meet an Ice Fairy Princess in a “sparkly, mystical ice cave.”
Several elements of the Winter Wonder Walk are interactive, too. At one station, guests must help a toy soldier hand crank a 7-foot-tall snow globe. At another, guests will encounter “snowball fighting snow sprites” in the middle of a snowball battle, which they are encouraged to participate in.
From conception to execution, the Winter Wonder Walk is an ode to the magic of fairy tales. The last stop on the walk, especially, is a celebration of the storybook.
“There’s the last page of the book, which says, ‘And they all lived happily ever after,'” Haro said. “Then, you enter a library scene with a librarian in a beautiful dress and a bunch of small, little, whimsical-looking libraries, where you can pick up your own free book.”
Other Winter Wonder Walk activities
In addition to the trail itself, Winter Wonder Walk guests are invited to enjoy a heated tent with local holiday vendors, hot chocolate, tasty treats and a “liquid cheer” section for adults.
On Saturday, Dec. 6, the holiday bazaar will undergo a children’s entrepreneurial market takeover, with 30 different kids selling from their vendor stations.
The Winter Wonder Walk is hosted by the Adventure Center of Asheville, which will offer the Treetops Adventure Park Glow Trail during the event. The glow trails are two different aerial routes adorned with twinkling lights and lasers. Find tickets here.
For more information about Asheville Plays! and the Winter Wonder Walk, visit www.winterwonderwalk.com.