PICTURES: Walking in a Winckley 'Winter Wonderland'!
Elves led youngsters around a number of festive-themed marquees during the first of what is a weekend-long event earlier today, and organiser Holly Wignall said the turnout was good despite the poor weather.
She said: "Nobody knew what to expect because it was different, but it seemed good.
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Hide Ad"Everybody seemed happy and my guys seemed to enjoy themselves."
Children attending tours at 10am, 1pm, and 4pm were split into groups of five before being led to a sweet shop, where Mrs Christmas helped them make biscuits to take home; a toy workshop, where they got to make a Christmas decoration for their tree; a reindeer barn, where they grabbed food for Rudolph to munch on Christmas Eve; the North Pole Post Office; and Father Christmas's living room.
A circus workshop was also held so nobody had to stand waiting in a queue to meet Father Christmas, who handed out gifts after speaking to each of the excited children.
Tickets were priced at £15 for a child and one adult, with additional adults £5 each, and Holly added: "From the feedback we have had it has been worth the money.
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Hide Ad"We call this 'Winter Wonderland' but it's basically a North Pole experience."
No real reindeer were used.
The event was organised by Events Live, the same firm that held an interactive Tales of Oz event in Wickley Square earlier this year.
The Grade II-listed Georgian gardens were set up to represent different places in the classic Wizard of Oz story, including the Yellow Brick Road and Emerald City, in July.
See Monday's Lancashire Post for a full spread of pictures taken by our photographer today