22.03.2013
Narnia Festival Enters Final Week in Christ Church Bray
After more than five weeks and about 5,000 visitors, the Narnia Festival in Christ Church Bray is entering its final days. The festival, which is inspired by CS Lewis’s Voyage of the Dawn Treader, opened on Ash Wednesday and draws to a close on Easter Sunday.
The church has been transformed into the magical land of Narnia for that time to teach about temptation and Lent – central themes of the book. Children and adults alike have been entranced as they passed through the church door to walk into the Dawn Treader ship and visit the islands that King Caspian, Lucy, Edmund, Eustace, Reepicheep the mouse and Aslan visited. They have also seen Aslan, the icy Queen of Narnia sitting in her sleigh, a real waterfall which has been created in the chancel of the church and a menacing dragon. The festival forms part of the church’s 150th anniversary celebrations.
For those hoping to get a final glimpse of Narnia, the festival will be open next week from 9.00 am to 6.00 pm on weekdays and from 10.00 am to 6.00 pm on Saturdays. On Sunday it will be open between 12.30 pm and 5.00 pm.
Next Monday evening, March 25, 3Rock is holding an Essential Youth Praise Event in the church. All are welcome to attend. To facilitate 3Rock in setting up for the evening, the festival will close at 2.00 pm. On Good Friday, March 29, the festival will only open between 1.00 pm and 3.00 pm.
The festival concludes on Easter Sunday when the President of the Methodist Church in Ireland, the Revd Kenneth Lindsay will lead a service of Holy Communion involving the local Methodist congregation in the church. Earlier on Easter Morning, there will be a 6.30 am dawn service at the Lower Carpark on Bray Head. This will be followed by breakfast in Narnia at 7.15 am.
The festival was launched on Ash Wednesday by Douglas Gresham, the stepson of CS Lewis. He said: “It is a great wonder to see what has been done in the church and a great surprise to see the Dawn Treader and Aslan recreated here.”
Admission to the festival for a child costs €3 with the accompanying adult going free), a family ticket with up to five children costs €10, an adult ticket without a child costs €5 while an entry fee of €2 per child applies for school tours (accompanying adults free).
For more information contact Christ Church Bray on: email (christchurchbray@gmail.com); telephone (01–2862968); website (www.christchurchbray.org); and Facebook (Christ Church Bray or Narnia Festival 2013–Feb 13–March 31st).