Thursday 8th October 2015
Willows Activity Farm in St.Albans, Hertfordshire, has today unveiled the construction plans for its new Peter Rabbit themed play area, due to open in April 2016.
The area, to be named the ‘Peter Rabbit™ Adventure Playground’ will be 1,400 square metres in size and aims to encourage active, imaginative and wholesome play for children.
It will have ten activities themed around the world-famous and much-loved Peter Rabbit characters, including the Mrs Tiggy-Winkle Kitchen, a Jeremy Fisher Musical Pond and Benjamin Bunny Treetop Adventure.
The new play attraction will open to coincide with the 150th anniversary of the birth of Beatrix Potter, author of the original books.
The play area’s centrepiece will be The Peter Rabbit Secret Treehouse, built around a 100 year old ash tree at Willows Activity Farm. All of the play equipment has been developed by Lappset Creative, a leading manufacturer of themed playground attractions.
Andrew Wolfe, Chief Executive of Willows said: “We were keen to integrate the new play activities with the beautiful natural environment at Willows, and Lappset have ensured that, that vision was reflected in an area that is exciting and stimulating for families yet respects the countryside setting of Willows.”
“We have invested over £1 million in this development – that includes the planned area as well as the branding and re-theming of some existing areas on site.”
Johan Granholm, Director of Lappset Creative said: “It’s been great working to develop the bespoke play areas that fit each character so well. We aim to help children learn through play, and every aspect of the Peter Rabbit Adventure Playground will encourage each child’s development and creativity in a fun, engaging way.”
Peter Rabbit has recently been brought to the next generation of fans on the CBeebies channel by Silvergate Media, co-producers and global licensing agent of the hit CGI animated TV series.
Thomas Merrington, VP Brand & Creative at Silvergate Media said: “Each of the Peter Rabbit characters has a personality and we’ve worked with Lappset Creative and Willows Activity Farm to bring that out in each activity area. This will be the first of its kind in the world and the plans look fantastic – I know that Peter Rabbit fans will absolutely love it!”
For more information visit www.willowsactivityfarm.com or follow @Willows_Farm on Twitter for all the latest updates.
ENDS
For any press enquiries relating to Peter Rabbit at Willows Activity Farm, please email sarah.bartlett@freshwater-uk.com / louise.harris@freshwater-uk.com or call 0207 067 1595.
PETER RABBIT™ © Frederick Warne & Co. Limited and Silvergate PPL Limited 2015. Based on the works of Beatrix Potter. PETER RABBIT and BEATRIX POTTER are trademarks of Frederick Warne & Co., a Penguin Company. All rights reserved
About Willows Activity Farm
Willows Activity Farm provides a full day of wholesome fun and active learning through play for families, set in the Hertfordshire countryside. Situated 200 metres off Junction 22 of the M25, Willows Activity Farm is well located and easy to access for families in London and surrounding counties. Willows offers an all-inclusive admission price, with all activities, shows, demonstrations, rides and seasonal programmes included in the entrance price. Visit www.willowsactivityfarm.com/ Follow @Willows_Farm for more information.
About Silvergate Media
Silvergate Media is a highly creative TV Production and licensing company driven by big ideas and big collaborations. Formed in 2011, and with offices in New York and London, Silvergate develops world-class brands which inspire, entertain, educate and engage through innovative content, great products and strong partnerships. Among these brands are Peter Rabbit and Octonauts, two highly successful international properties for children.
About Lappset Creative
Lappset Creative is a designer and supplier of themed activity attractions for family entertainment locations, holiday destinations, theme parks as well as for shopping centres. Lappset Creative is part of Lappset Group, a family-owned private company and one of the world’s leading enterprises of design and manufacture of themed attractions, playgrounds and sports equipment. During the past years, Lappset Creative has designed, manufactured and installed several large indoor and outdoor themed attraction facilities in a variety of countries. Established in 1970, the Group has an extensive experience in creating and providing playful learning, play and exercise environments to people of all ages. Located in the north of Finland, Finnish Lapland, the Group has manufacturing facilities in three different countries, an international network of subsidiaries in six different countries and a distributor network extending to more than 50 countries worldwide. Lappset Group Ltd has been awarded several international design recognitions during its existence. For more information visit http://www.lappsetcreative.fi or http://www.lappset.com
#lappsetcreative #lappset
About the 150th anniversary of Beatrix Potter
Beatrix Potter is one of the world’s best-loved children’s authors, with her most famous creation The Tale of Peter Rabbit having sold in excess of 45 million copies globally since its initial publication in 1902. She personally oversaw the launch of subsequent products, making Peter Rabbit the oldest licensed character in history. Today over 2 million of her ‘little books’ are sold globally every year, and Peter Rabbit has appeared in books and products in more than 110 countries throughout the world
150 years after her birth, we celebrate an incredible woman, an artist, storyteller, botanist, environmentalist, farmer and businesswoman. Beatrix Potter was a visionary and a trailblazer. Single-mindedly determined and ambitious she overcame professional rejection, academic humiliation, and personal heartbreak, going on to earn her fortune and a formidable reputation. On her death she left an incredible legacy of land and property to the care of The National Trust to ensure that future generations would continue to enjoy the countryside that she was so passionate about as well as the much-loved characters and stories that were created over a lifetime.
NB: Penguin Ventures (part of the Penguin Random House Group) is committed to growing and protecting The Peter Rabbit™ brand and together with licensing agency, Silvergate Media, manages The World of Beatrix Potter™, one of the world’s longest running and largest international literature-based licensing programmes.
About Penguin Ventures:
Stories have always been at the heart of Penguin, but now we tell those stories in new and exciting ways. Penguin Ventures brings together licensing, consumer products, TV production and live event strategies to find brilliant new ways to tell the world’s favourite stories. Penguin Ventures look after brands such as The Snowman™ and the Snowdog, Beatrix Potter, Ladybird Books: The Vintage Collection, Spot, Flower Fairies, Hairy Maclary and Friends and Topsy and Tim. Penguin Ventures is a division of Penguin Random House Children’s.
Penguin Ventures will be at BLE on stand F060. Come and say hello and meet the team!
Jennifer Cooper
@jenlcoops