Home News Westonbirt, The National Arboretum remains open during national lockdown

Autumn_Westonbirt Arboretum_credit Johnny Hathaway(1)

Westonbirt, The National Arboretum remains open during national lockdown

11 November 2020

Forestry England have announced that Westonbirt, The National Arboretum, can remain open for visitors under the government’s new national restrictions and that are planning for the Enchanted Christmas Illuminated Trail to go ahead, although dates in November have been rescheduled to later in December.

Public parks and botanical gardens are allowed to remain open during the national lockdown, meaning that people can still enjoy green spaces, including Westonbirt Arboretum, for recreation and exercise.

To keep visitors, staff and neighbours safe, the arboretum has changed its safety measures to help everyone during their visit. Places are still limited and an advanced booking system with timed arrival slots is in place, staggering visits throughout the day; anyone wishing to visit the arboretum must pre-book a ticket as tickets are not available to buy at onsite.

The new national restrictions have made things a little different, with facilities such as the shop and Great Oak Hall closed, but the arboretum still offers over 600 acres of stunning landscape and over 15,000 specimen trees to explore.

Forestry England have also confirmed that they are planning for the Enchanted Christmas Illuminated Trail to go ahead, however, dates in late November (Saturday 28 and Sunday 29 November) have been rescheduled to later in December. Everyone who had booked for November has been given a new date and with instructions on what to do next.

As with day visits to the arboretum, Forestry England staff have made some changes to the trail, in order to keep visitors and staff safe. These include:

Pre-booked tickets only: All visitors to Enchanted Christmas will need to book their tickets in advance. Visitors are also given an arrival time slot to ensure that the number of people on the trail are staggered throughout the evening.
Fewer people: The opening hours of the trail have been extended, and the number of people in each timeslot reduced from previous years, to allow everybody more space.
Handwashing: Additional cleaning and handwashing stations will be available.
Father Christmas will be at the end of the trail and will give a short performance but will not be able to do 1-1 meet and greets.
The Christmas village (including catering facilities) will be in two parts, one at the start and one at the end of the trail, and visitors will not be able to re-enter the villages once they have left them.
One-way systems: The trail will operate as a one-way system.
Card payments only onsite to reduce cash handling.
Increased cleaning: Key areas of the event will be cleaned regularly throughout the evening.
Toilets: The number of people in the toilets at any one time will be limited and everyone will be asked to wear a mask while in the toilets.

Andrew Smith, Forestry England’s Director of Westonbirt Arboretum said, “We are thrilled that Westonbirt is able to stay open and offer people a space to come and enjoy all the physical and mental benefits of spending time in nature. Being amongst trees is enormously beneficial for our mental health, and it is particularly important that we all take some time to look after our mental well-being during these challenging times.

Naturally, the safety of our visitors and staff is our first priority which is why we introduced our pre-booking system and other safety measures. We are asking visitors to help us look after the health and well-being of everyone onsite by following the government guidance, as well as our new measures that have been put in place for everybody’s safety.

The staff here appreciate that after a difficult and stressful year many of our visitors are really looking forward to the Enchanted Christmas Illuminated Trail and we are working hard so that it is safe and can go ahead as planned. We are closely monitoring the situation and will continue to follow the government guidelines, and at the moment Enchanted Christmas will go ahead, although we have rescheduled the planned November dates until later in December.”

Westonbirt Arboretum is open 9am to 5pm, with last entry at 4pm, Monday to Sunday. Tickets are available to pre-book here: forestryengland.uk/westonbirt-the-national-arboretum

Day admission prices

	Until 1 December 2020	1 Dec 2020 – 1 March 2021
Adult	£11	£8
Students and job seekers	£7	£5
Child (5-18 years) Under 5s go free	£4	£3