A tiny city made entirely from gingerbread will go on display in west London this Christmas.
Over 70 biscuity buildings will make up the mini metropolis for this year's The Gingerbread City exhibition, including houses, train stations, markets, schools and museums — all decorated with icing and sweets. A moving train is part of the fun — and filled our hearts with childlike excitement at a previous incarnation of the exhibition — but the real focus this year is on water.
Water in Cities is the theme, with the teams behind each crunchy construction asked to design their contribution with the water cycle in mind, to highlight the need to protect this vital resource.
The Museum of Architecture organises The Gingerbread City, and the buildings themselves are created by teams of professional architects, engineers and designers. There's some serious science behind it too. Given that the exhibition is open for over a month, those sugary skyscrapers have got to have some structural integrity to last the distance.
No nibbling on the exhibits is allowed, so make sure you eat before you go — from past experience, it smells amazing in the exhibition, and is likely to make you very hungry. If you want to take your own piece of gingerbread goodness home with you, sign up for the daily gingerbread house-making workshops taking place at the exhibition.
Here's a look at a previous year:
It's the seventh time The Gingerbread City exhibition has been held in London, with Somerset House and Belgravia among the previous venues. For the first time, it's going international too, with a second exhibition running in New York.
The Gingerbread City 2023 is open at Westfield London in White City, 2 December 2023-7 January 2024. Tickets start at £12.50 and must be booked in advance. Gingerbread house workshop + exhibition tickets are £65 per person or £90 for two people.
