Leavenworth Reindeer Farm becomes a hit attraction, plans 360-degree dome

LEAVENWORTH — “Up on the the house top click, click, click,” goes a classic, written by Benjamin Hanby, Christmas song.

But that isn’t Saint Nick making the clicking noises, said Erika Bowie, general manager of the Leavenworth Reindeer Farm, to a group of 50 on Christmas Eve. It’s reindeer alerting the rest of the herd to their location.

Locals and tourists from Washington and all over the country have been buying up reservations for this reindeer attraction. The popularity of the family-owned reindeer farm in Leavenworth has increased exponentially in its short history since opening to the public in 2016.

“When we got reindeer we thought we would just take them to retirement homes for Christmas or to schools for education. We did not know we would open our farm to the public,” said Bowie.

In 2014, Bowie’s parents Kari and Hans Andersen, began the reindeer farm. Now it is operated by three generations of their family. Bowie’s three siblings and her own children work at the farm, too.

When traffic would pile up to get into Leavenworth in 2016, Bowie said one day they put a folding sign saying “meet our reindeer” next to the traffic. She said around 300 people showed up to the farm that day which made them believe that the farm could be a successful business.

“We call it an adventure of a lifetime, because we get to hangout with the animals we love everyday and share them with people from all over the world,” said Bowie.

Bowie estimates they had around 10,000 visitors that first Christmas season. The farm gets around 1,500 visitors a day and she expects they will reach 100,000 visitors at the end of this Christmas season.

Bowie recommends that anyone who is interested in going to the farm any time of the year should make their reservation two months in advance.

On the Christmas Eve farm tour Saturday, were Erich and Kerry Jurges from Wenatchee, with their children Ben, 5, and Cora, 3. They said that visiting the farm every year has become a new family tradition. The Jurges’ said they purchased their reservation in the summer when they saw a sale.

Michael and Emily Bingham came from Lynchburg, Virginia to spend Christmas with their extended family together in Leavenworth. In their group of 19 were family members from Washington and Montana.

The Binghams said visiting the farm on Christmas Eve felt special to do. Their group was able to make reservations in October.

Visiting from Minnesota were Chris Czech and his family of four, who were in Leavenworth for the first time for a Christmas vacation. They researched Christmas towns all over the country and chose Leavenworth. They were excited to go to the reindeer farm after learning about it, but all the tickets were sold out. Czech said he kept checking the website for any last minute availability, then saw his family’s chance to get on the farm when reservations opened.

“We’re really honored to be part of people’s holiday traditions,” said Bowie. She added the farm is also year-round and in the spring they are expecting newborn reindeer.

To attract more people from all over the country, Bowie said the farm is getting ready to build a dome to play a 360-degree projection show that can give visitors an experience with reindeer in their native Nordic homeland.

“If you look up online, the most popular reindeer experience in the world is to go to Tromso, Norway, and view the northern lights and meet reindeer herds and meet traditional Sami families that still herd reindeer like they have for centuries,” Bowie said.

But Bowie said she got the dome idea when visiting The Ocean Center in Maui and went to a 360-degree show about whales. She said she started doing research about companies that make projection domes and has been working with engineers to develop a dome at the farm. She’s also renting camera equipment from Disney Pixar to film reindeer herds in Norway and the northern lights to be projected inside the dome.

Bowie is expecting the dome to be constructed in summer 2023. She will meet with Chelan County Community Development in January to obtain permits.

“We’re going to have northern lights, people are going to have reindeer herds run around them in 360, special effects with snow coming down and the smell of pine trees and more, it’s going to be epic,” said Bowie.