A gold mine of Christmas magic!

SANTA delivered some very exciting news at the Central Deborah Gold Mine on Monday.

The popular Elf Academy will return from 16 to 23 December, and the gold mine will be decorated and transformed into a magical Christmas wonderland.

CEO of Bendigo Heritage Attractions, James Reade said the Elf Academy was successful last year, and there’ll be a plethora of children’s activities available again.

“Kids can come along and they’ll get their Certificate IV in Elf Training, they’ll learn the important skills it takes to be one of Santa’s helpers,” he said.

“There’ll be lots of different activities across the site to keep the kids busy, including Farmer Darryl’s Animal Farm, mascots, arts and crafts, a whole range of activities.”

Last year, 6000 people attended the week and Mr Reade said he is excited by the news people from Melbourne will be able to travel to regional Victoria from Friday evening.

“Eighty per cent of our visitation comes from Melbourne across all our attractions, so this Friday night we’ll be very excited to welcome Melbourne people back,” he said.

“It’s been a really challenging 18 months for our industry so it’s nice to hopefully start normal and continue on and get people back through our doors and showcasing what we can do.

“It’s something positive to look forward to and we can’t wait to see family and friends and kids get together come December.”

Activities at the Elf Academy include learning how to care for reindeer, painting ornaments, creating wrapping paper, practice stacking presents and preparing Santa for Christmas. Santa photography will also be available at an additional cost.

Tickets will be available from Tuesday, 2 November at 9.30am at central-deborah.com.