IN PICTURES: Castle Howard launches Wizard of Oz Christmas trail around historic house

Christmas at Castle Howard with the Wonderful Wizard of Oz is open to visitors from today (Nov 13) for a seven-week run over the festive season – and we went behind the scenes to take a look at what people can expect.

The 300-year-old House becomes an immersive Christmas experience, dressed in set pieces, decorations, floristry, projections, lighting and sound, all themed on the original Wizard of Oz and timed to coincide with the release of the Wicked 2 movie.

It was a day of celebration all round for Castle Howard – hot off the press, they told guests from the media that they had won a Historic Houses Restoration project of the year award for the works completed in their tapestry drawing room.

Castle Howard Visitor Attraction Director Abbigail Ollive, told guests: “As the years go by, I think 'how are the creative team going to keep reinventing what they do each year’.

"I needn’t have worried.

"The Wizard of Oz has been on a list of potential themes for a long time now.

"When we got wind of a certain movie being released, we got our moment.”

Among the party were former Great British Bake Off contestants Freya Cox, from Scarborough, and Nataliia Richardson, originally from Ukraine but now living in East Yorkshire, who starred in the 2025 series.

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