Port Dalhousie Christmas Market returns in new location
The Port Dalhousie Christmas Market is on the move.
Starting Friday, the event returns to Port Dalhousie but in a new location: the Royal Canadian Legion hall at 57 Lakeport Rd.
Organizer Jeff Mackie said many of the vendor spaces used for the indoor portion of the market last year at Lock & Main Marketplace have since been rented.
“There are now businesses there, so we didn’t have a place for our vendors,” he said, adding it was a good problem to have.
The move to the legion hall allows the Christmas market to make use of indoor space for some vendors, and the legion’s parking lot can accommodate the event’s wooden vendor cabins. Visitors will again be able to shop both inside and outdoors.
Mackie said businesses within the Lock & Main Marketplace will also be hosting their own event over the weekend coinciding with the Christmas Market. The Lock & Main Winter Wonderland will feature vendors in addition to the marketplace’s regular businesses.
The Christmas market will also be making use of the Olde Lock One Commons, setting up its market Christmas tree there and hosting live entertainment on the stage throughout the weekend.
On Saturday night, the fourth annual lantern stroll presented by the Port Dalhousie beautification and works committee returns for another instalment. It starts at 6 p.m. at the new pavilion in Lakeside Park. Donations of $5 a lantern and $2 a candle will be accepted. The stroll will end at the commons. Hot chocolate will be available and donations will be accepted for Community Care of St. Catharines and Thorold.
Mackie said many Christmas market vendors are returning, and some will be making their market debut.
Mackie said next year, the market will again be on the move, as this marks the last year for the legion before a new residential development is built there.
“We’ll have to find somewhere else to go,” he said, noting the outdoor cabins were designed to be modular in nature and accommodate a mobile market.
The Port Dalhousie Christmas Market runs from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. For a full listing of vendors and the entertainment lineup, visit pdchristmasmarket.ca.