Join Dorothy on Newmarket’s Yellow Brick Road for a Christmas Adventure!

This Christmas, families in Newmarket will be able to meet ten Wizard of Oz characters along the Yellow Brick Road in  a new, interactive themed trail.  Discover Newmarket, as part of the Newmarket Community Network, has teamed up with trail experts High Street Safari to run a free life-sized character trail in Newmarket. Following on from similar trails that have been run in the town centre, this is a brand new, bespoke trail, designed specifically for the Yellow Brick Road. No prizes for guessing why the Wizard of Oz was chosen as the theme!

The Yellow Brick Road Christmas Trail is positioned along a section of the footpath from Exeter Road to Noel Murless Drive. The story revolves around a Christmas disaster in Oz; a storm has passed through, so strong that it’s blown the stars to ground. These aren’t just any stars, they’re magical ones, and they’re causing chaos as everyone is making crazy wishes! When a flying monkey wishes for a certain green witch to return, things really gets out of hand. Families will be able to read along with the story as they visit each character which they will find on a number of street lamp posts along the route and then download a free eBook of the story’s conclusion, at the end.

The trail kicks off with an exciting event on Saturday 18th December from 10am-2pm. This launch event will include live performers, dressed up as the Oz characters, an hilarious face-through-the-hole board and, if you’re in time, some ‘magic’ treats. So come and join us and use the route to walk into town where there will also be some additional festive entertainment  courtesy of Newmarket Town Council, thus making your Saturday shopping trip a truly wonderful experience!

The trail is the perfect opportunity to gather the family together for a fun activity over the Christmas holidays and all you need to take part is a smartphone. The trail takes about half an hour but can be completed in more than one visit. It’s completely free for families and groups to take part in. Because the trail works by utilising contactless QR codes, families don’t need to download or sign up to anything to play. It’s been designed so that younger children will enjoy spotting the life-sized characters along the way and older kids, and grown-up ones, will be able to engage by reading the stories and taking hilarious selfies.

The trail runs continuously on the Yellow Brick Road in Newmarket from the 18th  December to the 9th  January. To find out more, please visit the website: www.yellowbrickroadtrail.com

The activity is part of a series of initiatives organised by the Newmarket Community Network this year to enhance the appearance of the Yellow Brick Road and encourage residents to use the route as a pleasant footpath into the town centre. The trail has been kindly funded by a donation from the Henry Cecil Open Weekend.