The Snowman™ Film Featuring Live Orchestra Announces Huge 2024 Christmas Tour

Carrot Productions, has announced tour dates for The Snowman™film including performances of two brand-new shows for a truly magical Christmas experience.

Following a hugely successful 2023 tour, the award-winning family show will visit York Barbican for two performances (13:00 and 16:00), featuring The Snowman™ plus The Snowman™ and the Snowdog or The Bear, the Piano, the Dog and the Fiddle, with narration recorded by acclaimed actor, Michael Sheen (The Queen, Frost/Nixon, Alice in Wonderland). The tour will take to stages in Manchester, Buxton, Guildford, Birmingham, Liverpool, York and Chester.

Michael Sheen Photo: Sarah Dunn©

Michael Sheen says:
“I get to tell the story of The Bear, the Piano, the Dog and the Fiddle! It's something that I'm really excited to be a part of; the storytelling by David Litchfield is so rich, and the music that has been adapted by Carrot Productions is incredibly beautiful. To be able to contribute to such a lovely family experience this Christmas brings me a lot of joy."

Snowdog Enterprises (part of Penguin Random House UK, Children’s) have also appointed Carrot Productions as main orchestral producer for The Snowman™ and the Snowdog, the sequel to Raymond Briggs’ classic picture book and film adaption The Snowman™, featuring the score by Ilan Eshkeri and Andy Burrows with additional orchestrations by Daniel Whibley, co-founder of Carrot Productions.

Thomas Merrington, Creative Director at Penguin Ventures (part of Penguin Random House, Children’s) says:
"We are delighted to appoint Carrot as our lead orchestral performance partner for The Snowman™ and the Snowdog. This is the first year we will see this brilliant sequel performed live at multiple venues across the UK.”

Daniel Whibley is the composer and arranger behind all of Carrot Productions’ shows, and has recently been making waves in entertainment and education; he created the music played by the BBC Philharmonic for hit educational CBeebies show Musical Storyland as well as The Musical Story of the Gingerbread Man, a film that gained a cult following and has since generated millions of views on CBeebies iPlayer. Daniel’s talent also created the company's latest launch, a series of live interactive shows for schools and special schools, Fantastic Fairy Tales’

Daniel Whibley says:
“I’ve really enjoyed working on both of the additional films for this year's tour. Arranging Ilan Eshkeri and Andy Burrow’s beautiful Snowdog score so that the instrumentation matches that of The Snowman has been a delight, and I’ve relished working alongside animator Kevin Francis to create a brand new score for The Bear, the Piano, the Dog and the Fiddle.

“Expect some very virtuosic violin playing at the performances!”


Joining The Snowman on tour will be the charming sequel to David Litchfield’s best-seller, The Bear and the Piano. Again, adapted for orchestra by Daniel Whibley, the heartwarming performance of The Bear, the Piano, the Dog and the Fiddle is set to wow audiences with original scores interspersed with extracts from the world’s most famous orchestral melodies, and a stellar narration recorded by Michael Sheen.

Multi-award winning illustrator and writer David Litchfield says:
"I am so excited that Carrot Productions are adapting my book The Bear, the Piano, the Dog & the Fiddle for their amazing live performance. Seeing my first book The Bear & the Piano come to life on stage in Carrots previous shows was one of the highlights of my life and I cannot wait to see what these incredible musicians and storytellers achieve with this new book.

“Seeing the story come to life through the animation and with the incredible live orchestra is going to be another absolutely thrilling experience. I can't wait."

The unforgettable Christmas tour will be performed by the Carrot Productions Orchestra, featuring some of the country’s top music talent from the likes of the Hallé, BBC Philharmonic, and the BBC Concert Orchestra.

As ever, Carrot Productions is giving young soloists local to the venues the life-changing opportunity to join the performance. Two talented young musicians from York are set to take on the challenge to wow audiences with a rendition of the evocative Walking in the Air solo - Izzy Evington (14), part of the National Youth Choir of Great Britain, and Ellayana Roberts, a music scholar at Bootham School.

Children and their families will have the opportunity to chat to the musicians and even enjoy some music requests, alongside a much-anticipated appearance by the Snowman himself.

Rachel Whibley, MD of Carrot Productions, says:
“I’m super excited about this year’s Snowman Tour, which will see us premiere two films featuring two very special dogs - Hugo the violin-playing dog, and the Snowdog himself - alongside The Snowman. It’s been wonderful to collaborate with the creatives at Penguin and author-illustrator David Litchfield to bring these films to life for our audiences.”

The tour sets off on 30th November with a performance at London’s New Wimbledon Theatre, and will take to some of the country’s most opulent stages like the Guildford Cathedral, the Liverpool Cathedral, the Chester Cathedral and the Buxton Octagon.

The show will once again deliver a jolly holiday performance to the little patients and their families at the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital.

The Snowman tour marks the end of a busy year of expansion for Carrot Productions, taking in the launch of charity arm The Carrot Trust, and the development of its ‘shows for hire’ offering.

Tickets for The Snowman tour with a live orchestra in York (22 December - 13:00 & 16:00) are available here.

‘The Snowman’ Tour Dates:

5 Dec – Derby Reach, Derby

6 Dec – Derby Reach, Derby

7 Dec – Peterborough Cathedral, Peterborough

8 Dec – Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital

12 Dec – Buxton Octagon, Buxton

14 Dec – Guildford Cathedral, Guildford

15 Dec – Birmingham Town Hall, Birmingham

20 Dec – Liverpool Cathedral, Liverpool

22 Dec – York Barbican, York

23 Dec – Chester Cathedral, Chester