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Christmas Wonderland 2016 won’t be free due to crowd management

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Photo: Christmas Wonderland

Gardens by the Bay will once again be lit up in festive colours in December as Christmas Wonderland will be returning for a third year running.

This year’s edition will see the introduction of ticketing as organisers Blue Sky Events want to improve the overall visitor experience, Blue Sky’s director Sarah Martin said at a press conference on Thursday (27 October).

Last year’s edition saw more than 1.6 million visitors, of whom 40 per cent were from overseas.

Due to the overcrowding at the venue last year, the organisers have decided to control the capacity for this year’s edition, Martin said. With the introduction of ticketing, up to 30,000 visitors a day are expected to attend, she added.

“Taking into account the infrastructure within and around the event grounds, this year’s Christmas Wonderland will be ticketed to better manage the daily capacity to ensure the quality of the overall visitor experience is enhanced,” Martin said.

While the organisers are pleased with the response to the event last year, they hope to cater more to the different visitor segments this year.

“We want families to come with their young kids, we want to think of the elderly as well. We have couples coming for their first dates, as well as those who proposed here,” Martin said.

This year’s edition will run from 2 December 2016 to 1 January 2017. Tickets are priced at $4, $6 and $8, and are only available for purchase online at the Christmas Wonderland website.

The event space has been expanded to 57,000 sqm from last year’s 35,000 sqm, and 240,000 light bulbs will be used.

A major attraction this year will be the Hi-5 Funtastic House, the first time that the Australian multiple award-winning pre-school television series edutainment playhouse is in Singapore.

Visitors can also look forward to a bigger festive shopping and dining experience, more carnival games and curated festive performances.