Plans for an Immersive Narnia Trail Experience at Kilbroney Forest Park to be Developed by Counci

Redeveloping the Narnia trail at Kilbroney Forest Park into a fully immersive experience with animated content and a range of special effects is the aim of Newry, Mourne and Down District Council.

Further bringing the mythical, magical world of Narnia to life, this enriched visitor experience would build on the Council’s existing Narnia trail, inspired by the area’s links to C.S Lewis, and which already attracts over 63,000 visitors a year.

At a meeting of Newry, Mourne and Down District Council on 3 October, councillors agreed to approve the business case to progress development of the concept, design, outline business case and PAD (Pre-Application Discussion) submission to assess Planning requirements for the development of the Narnia Experience.

The enriched visitor experience would merge the surrounds of Kilbroney Forest Park with animated content and characters, complimented with audio, video and special effects. The concept of a purpose built 1940s train carriage ready to set off on the journey to the house of Narnia character Professor Digory Kirke will also be considered in the concept. It is envisaged that within the carriage, audio visual technology would be used to mimic the passing landscapes as the train journeys out of the city to the countryside. Upon ‘arrival’, the visitor would be escorted to the start of the trail, where the battle to save Aslan and Narnia begins.

Newry, Mourne and Down District Council Chairperson, Councillor Michael Savage said, “The Narnia Trail at Kilbroney Forest Park in Rostrevor is an established tourist attraction and I look forward to hearing about how we can further bring this magical world to life. As more local businesses develop visitor experiences based on the Narnia story and link to the Mournes, it is important we continue to invest in our tourism offering to offer the very best to our visitors.”

The concept, design and costing works will determine cost projections, which will inform future funding applications for the project.