Derry pupil wins Panto tickets for her whole class

Derry pupil Nola and her class from Nazareth House Primary School in the city were the lucky recipients of free tickets to this year's panto at the Forum.

The Millennium Forum in partnership with the Richmond Centre has continued with its longstanding tradition of hosting an annual Christmas schools competition, offering the winner a trip for their entire class to see their pantomime.  

This year, with almost 1500 votes, Nola and her class were the lucky recipients of the amazing prize.

They also enjoyed a special ‘meet & greet’ with some of the cast of this year’s panto, Cinderella.

Local students of all ages were asked to create an art piece on who they would like to take to Cinderella’s Ball.  

Hundreds of entries were received with pictures of family, friends, pop stars- even Elvis got a mention- and TV characters all being submitted.  

Entries were then shortlisted and the finalists posted up on the Forum’s Facebook page for public voting.

Cara McCartney, Development Manager at the Millennium Forum, said that this year’s competition was extremely close, “We were astounded with the huge number of entries, which made the job of the judges extremely difficult," she said.

"In the end, Nazareth House Primary School took the prize and they were delighted."

She added: “Sponsorship with the Millennium Forum and the Richmond Centre continues to build momentum in terms of branding with our biggest show of the year, rewarding staff and reaching into the local community with the schools competition as well as some upcoming and exciting workshops in conjunction with Arts & Business for some local school children in 2023.  

"As a registered charity, we are very grateful for their support and we look forward to building upon this success story throughout the year.”

Bobby McNicholl, Manager of the Richmond Centre and sponsor of the Forum’s pantomime, commented: “The Richmond Centre enjoys supporting local arts, schools and community and we are extremely pleased that Nazareth House PS has won the schools competition.  

"We hope that the winner and her class have a great time of fun and laughter at Cinderella.”

Cinderella, opened today (1st Dec) at the Millennium Forum and runs until 2nd Jan 2023.  

Tickets are now available from the Box Office.  Telephone 71 264455 or visit millenniumforum.co.uk for tickets.