Apply for free tickets to a relaxed pantomime performance of "Mother Goose" at The Mercury Theatre or "Aladdin" at the Chelmsford Theatre

After last year’s successful pantomime performance, Short Breaks Essex are excited to announce that we are back with a bigger and better offer for this year’s festive period. We are pleased to share that we will be supporting two performances this year and are collaborating with two of our partner providers to do this. The pantomime performances promise to bring fun, laughter, and unforgettable memories for all. 

In 2024 we collaborated with our colleagues from SEND Sensation Short Breaks and Activities provider in Mid and North Essex to bring you a relaxed performance of Peter Pan at The Mercury Theatre in Colchester.
  
This year SEND Sensation have agreed to work with us again to host a relaxed performance for residents of Mid and North Essex of Mother Goose back at The Mercury Theatre on 16th December 2025 at 5pm. All tickets are free and will be distributed by SEND Sensation. All the details of this can be found on their Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/sendsensation

For our families outside of the Mid and North Essex area we have worked together with Butterflies Clubs who provide clubs and activities in the South Essex area. We were not able to negotiate appropriate tickets at a South venue but have been able to work with Chelmsford Theatre to book tickets to Aladdin! This will take place on Friday 2nd January 2026 at 2pm. All tickets are free and will be distributed by Butterflies Clubs. All the details of this can be found on their Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/butterfliesclubsEssex

These events are open to all children and young people registered to Short Breaks, including those awaiting diagnostic assessment for Autism or ADHD. Short Breaks registered children and families can apply for a maximum of 4 tickets (a minimum of one child or young person must be Short Breaks registered). You will be required to use your registered child/young person's Short Breaks reference number to book, and you can find this next to their name in your Short Breaks Digital Account, which can be found at:

https://bookings.bookinglab.co.uk/ecc-shortbreaksdigitalservice/login

More details about the performances can be found on the theatre’s websites. 

Mother Goose @ The Mercury Theatre: https://www.mercurytheatre.co.uk/event/mother-goose/

Aladdin @ Chelmsford Theatre: https://www.chelmsfordtheatre.co.uk/event/aladdin

We ask that all families only apply for 1 pantomime performance to make sure that there are enough tickets to go around all families. Tickets are likely to sell out quickly, and you will need to have your Short Breaks ID number to hand. If you are having problems accessing your Short Breaks Digital Account, please reach out to us as soon as possible to get this sorted our email address is shortbreaks@essex.gov.uk