Channel your inner child

A night at the panto

Dublin

The Gaiety Theatre has laid claim to the panto tradition since it first opened its doors in 1873 and this year's show is the hair-larious tangled tale of Rapunzel, with Joe Conlon getting back into his gúna to reprise his role as its legendary dame. Tickets from €19.50. gaietytheatre.ie

Tenor Paul Byrom plays the role of Gaston in Beauty and The Beast at the Helix, which includes a sensory-friendly production on Tuesday, December 19th. The show runs until January 21st. thehelix.ie

TV's X Factor favourite Mary Byrne will star as Good Queen Mary in Sleeping Beauty at The Tivoli Theatre on Francis Street. The show is produced by Alan Hughes, stalwart TV3 presenter and his husband, Karl Broderick, the writer of panto perfection, for this is his 20th production. The six-week run starts on December 7th at the Tivoli Theatre. Tickets from €15 and €26. Panto.ie

The former Mrs Brown's Boys star Rory Cowan will be stepping into the role of Polly & the Beanstalk at the Olympia Theatre, which opens on Friday, December 15th. Tickets from €23. olympia.ie

Cork

In the other capital, Cork, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs grace the stage at Cork's Opera House, as the lead characters enlist you to help outsmart the wicked queen Sadista. The show runs from December 1st to January 21st, bar six dates in December. Tickets from €27.50. corkoperahouse.ie

Limerick

In Limerick, pop star Samantha Mumba joins the star-studded cast of Cinderella at University Concert Hall, where she steps into the vertiginous heels of Cinderella's evil, if rather glamorous, stepmother. The show opens on Monday, December 18th. Tickets from €26.50. uch.ie

Beauty and the Beast tours TLT Drogheda, the National Opera House, Wexford, and INEC, Killarney, with a celebrity cast that includes comedian Karl Spain, who plays castle keeper, Bertie, Adam Weafer, of TV3's Red Rock, in the role of the Beast, and Clara Murray, the presenter of RTEjr's Twigin, in the role of Belle.

The show debuts in Drogheda, running from Friday, December 15th, to Saturday, December 23rd, then moving south to Wexford’s National Opera House, where it runs from Tuesday, December 26th, to Saturday, December 30th, and then on to the INEC in Killarney, where it runs from Tuesday, January 2nd, to Thursday, January 4th. Tickets from €23.

Thetlt.ie; Nationaloperahouse.ie; Inec.ie

Animated classic

The magic of animated film The Snowman and its haunting Howard Blake score is a classic that adults adore taking kids to. The film's best-loved song, Walking in the Air, is sung by chorister Peter Auty, who was not credited in the original version. There are screenings on the same days, Saturday, December 16th, and Sunday, December 17th, at the National Concert Hall and also at the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre, with shows on Sunday, December 17th, also at the INEC, Killarney.

Ark the angels sing

Escape the freneticism of Christmas shopping with a trip with your little ones to The Ark, where Tracks in the Snow returns to this children's theatre. The Henry Girls', a trio of sisters from Donegal, heavenly harmonies will transport you into an enchanting world of winter. Suitable for children aged four and upwards, the show commences on Saturday, December 2nd. Tickets €9 to €12. Ark.ie; TheHenryGirls.com

Get your skates on!

A trip with the kids to the local ice ring – usually an unappealing-looking large mobile freezer unit – will allow you to wrap up warm and indeed indulge in a little gluhwein after. Cork on Ice; Winterval on Ice, Waterford; Galway Skates, Salthill; Ice Skating, Castlebar; Dundalk on Ice; Killarney on Ice; as well as numerous offers within Dublin and its commuter belts: iSkate at the RDS; Ice Skating, Blanchardstown; Dundrum on Ice; Swords on Ice; and Christmas Wonderland Ice Skating at City West will put you in the mood. Ticket prices vary.

Iceskating.ie; familyfun.ie

Photo ops

Winterval, the annual festival taking place in Waterford, offers fun family photo opportunities at its selfie stations – a gingerbread house and a snowglobe – at Georges Court Shopping Centre, and a Dickens-themed one, located at the Theatre Royal. The resulting shots will be equal parts adorable and cringe-worthy – something the kids will love to hate when they grow up. Runs until December 23rd. Free. Winterval.ie

Thrillseekers should make a beeline for Bishop Lucey Park in Cork and clamber aboard the giant ferris wheel, part of the ctiy's Glow Festival 2017. When the wheel cranks to a stop at the top, you can capture a shot of all of Cork lit up below like a Christmas tree. Running at weekends in December: 1st to 3rd; 8th to 10th; 15th to 17th; and daily from December 20th. The ferris wheel will open each day from 12 noon to 9pm, excluding Christmas Eve, when it closes at 4pm. Free3. Corkchristmascelebration.ie

The live crib at Dublin's Mansion House is a tradition that relatives and friends overseas might love to see crop up in family photos. Another tradition takes place at the St Martin Apostolate on Parnell Square, opposite the Rotunda Hospital, where an animated crib – in the manner of the puppets of the 1960s' TV series Thunderbirds and complete with camels, farmyard animals, and Fred, the stuffed or taxidermied dog – opens on Sunday, December 3rd, with Bray Gospel Choir performing throughout the day. Free.

It’s a hard knock life

Once the left-over turkey and pudding has been consumed and the last of the crackers pulled, take another moment to time travel back to orphan Annie’s era in a gloriously uplifting rendition of Annie the Musical at the National Concert Hall. Starring Katherine Lynch as Miss Hannigan, the spectacular stage and sets will run for

11 performances only, opening on Wednesday, December 27th, and running to Wednesday, January 3rd. Tickets from €29, nch.ie

See Santa

At home in his Christmas Palace, at the Phoenix Performing Arts College and Studio, in Dublin's East Wall, where you will be guided through a maze of Christmas magic, partake in the school's very own panto, enjoy face painting, dancing and games. Tickets cost €20, adults go free. Phoenixartscollege. com">Phoenixartscollege.com

In all his Victorian splendour, so wearing a traditional green suit rather than the red suit invented by American ad men, at Belvedere House, outside Mullingar, Co Westmeath. It includes a Narnia trail that you have to open a wardrobe door to enter. Tickets €12 for kids. An accompanying adult can go free. Belvedere-house.ieAt Dublin Zoo, where the big man will be in residence until December 24th and this year, while you wait, visitors can also enjoy its Wild Lights Experience, a series of illuminations imported from China and installed throughout the zoo. Tickets for adults cost €20, children €15. It is also worth noting that the animals are all in bed so don't expect to see any real wildlife. Dublinzoo.ie

At Croke Park, where the temperature has taken a dive to create a polar palace for its Santa Experience. Saint Nick's sidekick is Stitch the Snowman, a GAA player of some talent, who can send a sliotar flying to the North Pole in just one swing. The visit includes free admission to the GAA Museum. Children's tickets cost €16. Crokepark.ie/santaAt Galway's Ballybrit Racecourse, aka Elf Town, where you can visit Jack Frost's home, made entirely of ice, hang a wish on a wishing tree, meet Mrs Claus, who will help you decorate a cookie and enjoy an audience with Mr Claus. Children's tickets cost €24.95 at weekends. It runs every Friday, Saturday and Sunday and daily from December 18th to 23rd. elftowngalway.comAt the Big House at Avoca, Powerscourt House, Enniskerry, Co Wicklow. Afterwards, families can visit the stables and see some of Santa's animals, including his deer, pygmy goats and donkeys. On December 17th, Dale Treadwell from Naturally Wild will be at the Powerscourt Garden Pavilion with Robby the Christmas robin for some fun, interactive Christmas activities. This runs until December 23rd.

At Tayto Park, where you can hop on board a train to visit his grotto and discover a little bit of the NorthPole at the Co Meath theme park. Kids' tickets €28. Taytopark.ie