Over 20,000 tickets already booked for the Millennium Forum's Aladdin panto in Derry

Hoping to get audiences in the Christmas spirit, the Millennium Forum is hosting a matinee performance for the first time on Christmas Eve.

David McLaughlin, Chief Executive of the Millennium Forum and writer/ producer of Aladdin, is excited for everyone to see this year’s production. He said: “Christmas pantomimes have always been at the heart of the Derry Christmas and this tradition has continued at the Forum from when we hosted our very first panto back in 2001.

“Since then, generations of families have enjoyed magical Christmas memories at our theatre and this year promises to be no exception. We have a fantastic show lined up that I know everyone young and old will enjoy.

“With our incredibly talented cast, fantastic song and dance routines, great comedy, amazing special effects, Makaton song and lots more, Aladdin is set to be our biggest panto yet.

“Tickets are already selling fast, so I would encourage everyone to secure their seats soon to avoid disappointment.”

Mags Anderson, Education Officer & Schools Marketing Officer, added: “As always, we are incredibly grateful to welcome lots of schools to our panto who travel from all over the country.

“This year, we have schools from Tyrone, Donegal, Antrim, Ballymoney and Fermanagh travelling to see Aladdin and we even have three groups coming from as far away as Co Leitrim. This is incredible and is testament to our reputation of producing the best quality panto show that the North West region has to offer and we are looking forward to welcoming everyone for a fun-filled few hours at the theatre this Christmas.”

The annual festive family show will run from November 29 till December 31, and you can catch the Christmas Eve matinee at 1:30pm.

Tickets are now available and are priced from £12.50. A number of accessible performances are also available as well as a Makaton song in each performance. Telephone the Box Office on 71 264455 (option 1) or visit millenniumforum.co.uk for bookings.