In early October amid rumours of a second lockdown, everything seemed so up in the year. The 2020 Palladium panto was in doubt, like so many others around the country. The event at the London Palladium is always one of the country’s top pantomimes; it attracts big names from across entertainment and even beyond. Thanks to a National Lottery grant specifically for creating a socially distanced event, that will now go ahead. Julian Clary, Nigel Havers and Beverley Knight star in Pantoland from mid-December until early January. But it is how the National Lottery is helping that has impressed.
What is the 2020 Palladium Panto? And How Will it Look?
In most cases, the National Lottery has helped causes by giving cash directly to those causes. Pantoland – the 2020 Palladium panto – did not apply for National Lottery funding; because of this, Camelot and its charitable wings chose a different tack. Instead, they have bought a large number of seats across the theatre to ensure social distancing. With so many cancelled due to coronavirus, the organisers were pleased that this particular event could go ahead, helping Londoners enjoy one of only a handful still taking place across the UK. What’s more, the National Lottery was planning to extend this at the time of going to press.
The coronavirus pandemic has taken away many of the things we take for granted. With summer festivals cancelled across the board in spring and summer, its to the Christmas build up that thoughts now turn. At the end of October, Boris Johnson announced England would move into a new lockdown; it was initially to last a minimum of one month. At present, that will not affect the 2020 Palladium Panto, but please watch local news for further details. If the lockdown is eased in the last few weeks to Christmas, it’s likely this panto will go on “oh yes it will!”