The Twilight Trail

This festive season, Mayfield Park hosts The Twilight Trail – an enchanting winter light show running up until Sunday 31 December, as part of the Winter Island experience. And yes, that is Freight Island neatly renamed for the season.

The Twilight Trail is the perfect inner-city Christmas destination for all ages, from families to couples, groups, and everyone in between. It’s the second year of this event, and things have stepped up for 2024, transforming Mayfield Park into a dazzling city-centre winter escape for the duration of the festive period.

The Twilight Trail a vibrant, soundtracked show-slash-walk, with thousands of lights threaded around the entirety of Mayfield Park. From the uplit trees to the purple fog that licks the River Medlock, it’s all very dramatic, with a few extra Christmas extravagances thrown in for good measure – hello giant pink Christmas tree, we’ve been expecting you.

Elsewhere, you’ll find a Grotto in the Plant Room, home to an interactive Visit Santa Experience (a far cry from the low-budget grottos I enjoyed back in the 1980s at Wigan’s finest Labour Clubs, which placed the emphasis firmly on grot), plus a brand-new Northern Lights experience with WeRoad, festive food and drinks from all traders, and entertainment from the likes of La Discothèque. Expect a bunch of live performances and Christmas pop-ups to be announced in the coming weeks.

But the trail is only one piece of the puzzle. Head into Freight Island (renamed Winter Island for the festive season) and there’s a food and drink offer that’s hard not to be impressed by. Read our full write-up about that here.