Happy Birthday Peter Rabbit at the Old Laundry Theatre

Written by Rachel

Location: Bowness-on-Windermere
Venue: The Old Laundry Theatre and World of Beatrix Potter
Duration: Show 1 hour – Attraction and café 1.5 hours

As part of Cumbria Tourism’s 50th anniversary, the team are trying out 50 different tourism experiences throughout the year – to help inspire your own days out across the Lake District, Cumbria. Rachel Tyson, her husband and two children (4 and 7 years old) got the opportunity to attend ‘Happy Birthday Peter Rabbit’ and visit the World of Beatrix Potter attraction.
 

This wasn’t the first time we’d visited the World of Beatrix Potter. Some might say we are regulars as we live less than half a mile away, but when the opportunity came up to go and watch their summer show, I couldn’t resist it as I knew it would be a hit with my kids and we haven’t been to the Old Laundry Theatre with them!

They’ve grown up with Beatrix Potter all around them; whether it’s the books, driving past the Beatrix Potter shops on their way to school or the Peter Rabbit TV series, which was a saviour during the pandemic. I didn’t tell them we were going until the day before as I knew they’d ask me a thousand times when we were going. When I finally did, my daughter’s response was “if we are going to the theatre, I’d best wear my fancy clothes mummy!”

As we arrived, we were met by a lovely lady who welcomed us and said, ‘Are you here for Peter Rabbit’s birthday party? Well, you can’t go in without an invitation’ and the kids beamed as they were handed their very special invitations.

The theatre is very well kitted out for families with booster cushions for children and we were soon shown to our seats along with lots of other families. The stage looked so colourful and interesting set up as Mr McGregor’s garden, and we were all set for the much-anticipated performance.

Most of the people in the room had small children with them which made for a brilliant atmosphere; the moment the performance started the children were shouting out and warning Peter Rabbit that Mr McGregor was coming. The story centres around it being Peter Rabbit’s birthday and him thinking everyone has forgotten but unbeknown to him, his friends have planned a party for him!

We were warned at the beginning there would be some loud noises and surprises along the way, but our kids loved the suspense. There were songs to join in with right from the beginning and lots of opportunities to shout out and be involved. We all really enjoyed the show and found it engaging and entertaining throughout.

The main characters from the stories are brought to life by puppeteers who do an incredible job of portraying the characters voices and mannerisms. The show lasted an hour and it held our children’s attention right to the end.

When the show came to its finale, we then had the opportunity to visit the attraction, which we hadn’t done for a while. The children were given booklets to fill in and small pencils and this kept my 7 year old occupied looking for the answers to all of the clues.

The attraction takes you through all of the stories one by one and brings them to life with beautiful portrayals of each one (my favourite is always Mrs Tiggywinkle). You can even walk around outside in Mr McGregor’s garden.

Once you’ve been through most of the attraction you come to an interactive area where you explore where Beatrix Potter lived, do puzzles, and learn about the famous lady who was so inspired by our beautiful Lake District.

We finished our lovely family afternoon in the onsite café with drinks, cupcakes for the kids and traybakes for the adults. It would be rude not to!

Happy Birthday Peter Rabbit runs until the 1st September 2024 at the Old Laundry Theatre, with two performances daily. The World of Beatrix Potter Attraction is open all year round and the Old Laundry Theatre has a full programme of events throughout the year.

For more information visit:

Happy Birthday Peter Rabbit

World of Beatrix Potter Attraction

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