Capital do Natal: Lisbon's great Christmas park
Where the NOS Alive rock festival is held every summer, Christmas will be celebrated this winter. Where urban tribes ready to dance and jump to the rhythm of emerging artists meet, starting this Friday it will attract families from all over Spain and Portugal. The Passeio Marítimo de Algés de Oeiras will become a large theme park for the Christmas : welcome to the Capital of Natal .
And our neighbors have not come to the fore by calling themselves the Christmas capital, no. This great installation where artificial snow, Christmas trees and winter cabins will be protagonists, deserves such a name.
It's about reproducing on this side of the atlantic (and a step away from Lisbon by comboio), the atmosphere and the spirit of the finnish lapland ; It is about creating the home of Santa Claus in a more grateful climate.
Capital of Natal It is not only the place to go with the little ones to fully immerse themselves in the celebrations of the season: the Christmas spirit will get into you with a series of immersive experiences and shows.
Ivan Days , one of the founders of the project, comments in an official press release: "the main objective is not to create a Christmas theme park like the ones that already exist, but rather to share Christmas values such as courage, generosity, harmony and happiness with visitors. Thus, we will create a series of experiences between the different attractions to convey the essence of the Christmas spirit."
ATTRACTIONS OF THE CAPITAL DO NATAL PARK
This large open space will have a Palace of the Snow Guardians , a magical place where play with real snow as if we were in Lapland (Be careful, Abel Caballero, this experience has nothing to do with the 50 artificial snow cannons that irrigate Vigo).
How to make it snow in this area of Lisbon? With the collaboration between the organization and a Finnish team that, thanks to technology and maintaining a temperature of -2ºC in this palace, will manage to turn the Palace into a kingdom of snow and ice, throughout Frozen.
Map of Capital do Natal
How could it be otherwise, we will find a large ice rink at the gates of the Palace (they say, from the organization, that it is the largest ice rink ever built in Portugal).
The elves , who will run around the park, will be at your disposal for any questions, as well as for chats with the children and answering all the questions they have about Christmas and their work with Santa Claus.
We continue with more attractions: we can enjoy the magic mirror of dreams , a water show that will take place in the lake (about 3000 m2); also from the wind mountain , an installation with twelve snow 'tubes' of different difficulties to slide down the slope; we continue with him elven forest , a magical place perfect for walking and relaxing.
And as a culmination, the great Christmas tree. A huge 20 meter high installation under the name of infinite time, who will interact with all those present.
Address: Passeio Maritimo de Algés, Oeiras See map
Schedule: From Monday to Thursday from 12:00 to 23:00; from Friday to Saturday from 10.00 to 00.00; Sundays from 10.00 to 23.00
Half price: Adults 24 euros; children between 3 and 12 years old, 20 euros; over 65 years, 30 euros; family price (two adults and two children) €88