Lots of lights, shopping and Santa
’Tis the season as cities and towns are decking the halls with their holiday finery.
The Festival City is aglow as Stratford is celebrating the holidays with its popular Christmas Trail and other special events.
“We’re beginning to look a lot like Christmas as shop keepers dress their windows in fresh cedar garland and twinkling lights tied with big red bows,” said Cathy Rehberg of the Stratford Tourism Alliance.
The Christmas Trail helps to “capture the spirit of giving and the joy of checking off that list,” she added.
Trail participants can discover those hard-to-find individual gifts as they stroll the festive streets in the city known for its “funky finds, eclectic shops and edgy boutiques.”
Twenty-seven shops are participating in the trail that runs until Dec. 20, offering “fabulous stocking stuffers.”
Trail passports cost $30 and provide a map and six vouchers that can be exchanged for gifts from among the participating shops.
And because it’s Stratford, Rehberg says to be “on the lookout for seven swans a swimming.” Details: visitstratford.ca/ChristmasTrail; 1-800-561-7926.
Bigger, better, brighter
That’s how they describe Bingemans’ Gift of Lights that returns to Kitchener-Waterloo after a successful launch last year.
This luminous spectacle is a drive through, familyfriendly winter wonderland that is a gift of lights, said publicist Stephen Murdoch.
Stretching over a course of more than two kilometres through Bingemans’ family entertainment complex, this year’s brilliant spectacle features 30 static and animated displays including reindeers, sleighs, elves and Santa.
There’s also the iconic light tunnel that was a big hit last year and is an “even more aweinspiring animated experience.”
Mark Bingeman, company president, said that “all together, this extraordinary drive-thru will have more than one-million sparkling lights for visitors to marvel at.”
It runs daily through Jan. 6 with online tickets at $18 for cars and speed passes for $15. bingemans.com; 1-519-744-1555
Reliving festive markets
The Toronto Christmas Market at the Distillery Historic District runs until Dec. 23 and “recreates the romance and magic of traditional European markets from the early 1400s,” organizers say.
In its eighth year, the market features diverse entertainment, European food delicacies, gift items from around the world and outdoor heated beer and mulled wine gardens.
There’s also a huge Christmas tree decorated with more than 40,000 lights and, of course, Santa and the elves.
It’s open Tuesday to Sunday, with admission free on weekdays and $6 on weekends from Friday at 5 p.m. TorontoChristmasMarket.com
All aboard!
Join Santa for a ride through Elgin County on the Port Stanley Terminal Rail.
The Santa treats train chugs along as anticipation grows nearing the destination and meeting Santa, said rail president Dan Vernackt.
The fun happens weekends through Dec. 17, leaving at 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 2:30 p.m.
It departs and returns to the Port Stanley station (309 Bridge St.) by the King George Lift Bridge.
Fares are $15 for adults and $9, for children ages two to 14. pstr.on.ca; 1-877-244-4478 onetanktrips@hotmail.com
For more One-Tank Trips: http://1tanktrips.blogspot.ca