‘Enchant’ opens in November. We know, we know.
Somewhere between the last strand of lights coming down off the porch sometime in April, and the first back to school ad appearing on Hulu in two weeks, the calendar quietly loses its mind, and nowhere is that more obvious than at Santa Anita Park, where Christmas has decided that July is, yeah, close enough. The racetrack, still warm from the July sun, is currently taking reservations for a holiday event that will not open its gates until November, and inviting the public to buy tickets for it right now, in the thick of summer, weeks before anyone has thought seriously about a scarf.
The occasion is Enchant, the light maze production that turned Santa Anita into a glowing thicket of sculpture and song last winter and is coming back for a second round, this time with a new storyline called Starlight Flight, populated by forest animals and a sleigh full of bells.
The maze runs November 20 through December 27, but the real news this month has nothing to do with lights. It has to do with the Golden Ticket, a bit of pricing choreography that lets guests lock in a seat at the table now and pick their actual night later, sometime in September, before the general public gets first crack at the calendar. Adult admission starts at $29, youth at $24, children at $19, and the very small get in free, which seems fair, since they have no concept of July or December to begin with.
For those who want the deluxe version of standing in line for Christmas in summer, there is a Premier Pass, which comes with a fast pass, a souvenir lightbulb cup with something warm or festive inside it, and a small gift, all in quantities the company describes as limited, which is either true or the oldest trick in retail.
Michelle Sanders, the marketing vice president behind the production, said the early planners are the ones being rewarded here, which is one way of putting it. Another way is that the ice skating trail, the snow slide, and Mrs. Claus herself, are all being sold to us while we are still in shorts and sunglasses, and somehow, standing in the July haze, it does not feel entirely absurd.
Christmas season is either just ending, on its way, or here. It all makes sense in a way.
More information is available at EnchantChristmas.com.
