Organisers of one of Hampshire's most popular festive experiences have been accused of ruining the magic for children - with families saying they will report the issues to Trading Standards.

The new team at The Great Hall in Winchester have replaced their long-standing regular Father Christmas and Grand Elf with a new Santa's Grotto experience. 

The move, which comes after management of the historic building was transferred to Hampshire Cultural Trust, has been criticised with some families considering complaints to Trading Standards.(Image: Hampshire Cultural Trust) READ MORE: Two more massive headliners announced for Southampton Summer Sessions 2025

Southampton mum-of-two Kirsty - who did not want her full named published - has purchased tickets for her and her family later this month. They will no longer attend and have so far been refused a refund.

'This Santa looks so fake'

She told the Daily Echo: "We're absolutely gutted as it's been such a special tradition for us and so magical in previous years. 

"We've been every year since our eldest was a baby and the Santa was great, so realistic, but the new one couldn't look more fake if he tried. 

"Our six-year-old is so bright and not one of those kids you can fool, so we're panicking now."

(Image: Hampshire Cultural Trust) Taking to social media to voice concerns, Claire Partridge accused organisers of 'selling out' and 'ruining a magical experience', while Matthew James Fernandez said he was 'gutted' at the change from the previous Father Christmas who was 'the real deal' and the reason his family travel to Winchester each December, adding that the replacement has 'big boots to fill'.

'Are you kidding me?'

Sarah Gregory said: "Are you kidding me with this Father Christmas? Come on even the most innocent of child will know this is not real. What are you trying to do?

"Ruin the magic for little children? If this is really the Father Christmas on offer I am shocked."

Laura Garrett has already visited this year. She described the experience as 'awful', adding that Santa forgot the words to Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and that she would 'never recommend' it.

Previous favourites John Field and Ken Haines have confirmed they were told in March that the new management of The Great Hall had made alternative arrangements.

Responding to complaints, a spokesperson for the Great Hall posted on social media and said: "We certainly don't want to ruin the magic of Christmas for any of our young visitors."

Working hard to fix teething issues

Hampshire Cultural Trust said it was aware of "disappointment".

A spokesperson said:  “We are aware that there has been disappointment expressed by some of our customers that the Santa’s Grotto at The Great Hall is a different experience to last year’s, particularly that the Father Christmas is not the same one who has greeted children previously.

"Some customers have fed back to us that this was not made clear in our publicity for the event, specifically with reference to the images that we have used to promote it.

"We would like to be absolutely clear that the main image used in our marketing material was a generic stock image, not one of the previous Santa.

"We would like to state unreservedly that it has never been our intention to mislead anyone regarding what is on offer at the event.

“This year’s Santa experience at The Great Hall does offer some great new additions which expand the experience.

"However, we acknowledge that we had teething problems during our first weekend of opening and we are sorry that for some customers, their experience was not up to our usual high standards.

"We’ve listened to the feedback we’ve received and have been working hard to address the issues raised from our first weekend to ensure that everybody has a fantastic experience with us for the rest of the season.”