Christmas is back on the schedule – Christmas has not been cancelled – and a drive-in panto with additional days of Christmas movies is just what Santa needs to put the festive bounce back in everyone’s step.

Ipswich Star: Jack and the Beanstalk, the drive-in panto, is being screened at Trinity Park, Ipswich, after Christmas Photo: Pop-Up Pictures/Ideal EventsJack and the Beanstalk, the drive-in panto, is being screened at Trinity Park, Ipswich, after Christmas Photo: Pop-Up Pictures/Ideal Events (Image: Archant)

The Suffolk Showground at Trinity Park will be hosting a long weekend of festive treats including feelgood seasonal movies, a drive-in pantomime and lots of festive food and drink treats.

The Trinity Park Christmas Drive-In will run from December 27-30 and is being staged by Ideal Events and Pop-Up Pictures. The pantomime will be Jack and the Beanstalk and will be presented as a screened event at 11.30am and 2.30pm daily.

The drive-in panto will be presented by one of Britain’s top producing theatres, the Belgrade in Coventry.

The star of the show will be Iain Lauchlan, one of Britain’s best-known panto dames for over 20 years who will also write and direct the show. Iain has been a well-known face on children’s TV for many years working on the likes of The Tweenies, Fun Song Factory, Playdays and the iconic BBC TV children’s programme Play School.

Joining him in the show will be a cast of professional performers including Craig Hollingsworth, Morna MacPherson, Arinia Ii and Ayden Morgan, and it will be supported behind the scenes by the highly-regarded Belgrade Theatre team which boasts a strong reputation for producing a range of work and is already working on productions for the UK City Of Culture 2021.

There will also be a full programme of classic Christmas movies being screened. These include The Nightmare Before Christmas, The Grinch, Elf and Muppet Christmas Carol.

To keep everyone refreshed during their visit, there will also be a street food market offering a wide range of meals and snacks as well as hot toddies, hot chocolate and mulled wine, plus those all-important panto accessories for younger visitors – festive glow sticks.

Andrew Bunn, of Ideal Events, said: “A traditional fully-cast pantomime in person is difficult this year because of the current Covid-19 restrictions and so we thought this was the ideal way to ensure a wide audience from Ipswich and across Suffolk could still enjoy a fully-cast festive spectacular packed with panto magic.

“We all love a Christmas movie too and there will be a full programme of those for all ages to enjoy too, and we will be keeping you warm with a fantastic food and drink offering, so jump in your car and head along to the ultimate festive festival this December.”

Tickets for the drive-in movies and on-screen panto are available online.