Our Guide to the Holidays

Take the brr out of winter - cure your family's cabin fever with events, activities and holiday fun!

VISITS WITH SANTA

Make sure to book your visit ahead and check for any new safety rules before going to see Santa this year!

BASS PRO SHOPS

Website: basspro.com/shop/en/santas-wonderland

DEERFOOT CITY

Website: deerfootcity.com

HERITAGE PARK’S ONCE UPON A CHRISTMAS

Website: heritagepark.ca/plan-your-visit/event- calendar/once-upon-a-christmas

SHEEP RIVER HEALTH TRUST

Best Western Plus in Okotoks Website: bookwhen.com/healthtrustsanta2020

SOUTHCENTRE MALL

Website: southcentremall.com

VIRTUAL SANTA CANADA

Website: virtualsanta-canada.ca

GIVE THE GIFT OF FAMILY TIME

Enjoy a stroll through the Airdrie Festival of Lights (info@airdrielights.com; airdrielights.com) or any of your favorite light displays around town! Distance safely with your favorite hot chocolate recipe and take your family for a magical evening out.

Make the best hot chocolate ever! Arm your kids with flavored syrups, sprinkles, whipped toppings, white milk, dark chocolate chips, and compete for the prize of the best family hot chocolate recipe! Make sure to name and write down recipes for your concoctions.

Support local businesses by buying gift cards for experiences as stocking stuffers! A Calaway Park season pass (calaway@calawaypark.com; calawaypark. com); YMCA Calgary gift card (info@calgary.ymca.ca; ymcacalgary.org); Calgary Zoo day pass (calgaryzoo. com), and pre-purchased tickets for Loose Moose (mail@loosemoose.com; loosemoose.com) make great gifts for all ages!

YMCA CALGARY

Email: headoffice@calgary.ymca.ca Website: ymcacalgary.org the lights. Once everyone is in their jammies, make warm winter drinks for the family and watch your very favorite holiday movie together.

The City of Calgary (311; calgary.ca/free) offers a range of free outdoor recreational events and opportunities to encourage active daily living and social connection. The City is encouraging physical activity and free play all year long. Visit the website to find a list of events in a community near you!

Film a family update and share it with loved ones .

Instead of sending holiday cards this year, why not ask your family members to share an update to extended family in their own words? If you need help getting the little ones talking, prompt them with some questions and record their answers. It’ll make a wonderful family keepsake and be so fun to watch a few years from now.

Explore the great outdoors this winter! Why not try snowshoeing, tubing, cross-country skiing, or winter hiking? Check out Kananaskis Outfitters (403-591-7000; info@kananaskisoutfitters.com; kananaskisoutfitters.com) and Winsport (info@winsport. ca; winsport.ca) for everything you’ll need to get your family moving!

Have a winter picnic . Bundle up and book a picnic site or have a fire or barbecue right in your backyard! Ward off the chills with a roaring fire and roast marshmallows, make banana boats, or make your own gourmet hot dogs.

Looking for something special to get your kids off the sofa? Give the gift of a WILD | LIFE Outdoor Adventures (support@jointhewildlife.ca; jointhewildlife. ca) subscription box filled with activities, orienteering gear, tools, and craft materials to enjoy the outdoors this winter and all year round!

When was the last time you went skating? Calgary has large groomed outdoor skating rinks all over the city! Used skates are always plentiful to purchase online and in thrift stores, or you can rent them from a number of businesses for a small fee. Don’t forget your helmet!

HOLIDAY FUN AROUND CALGARY

Ongoing; Lighten UP Calgary . It’s the most wonderful time of the year, and it just wouldn’t be Christmas time without twinkling lights. Share your Holiday Cheer and show Lighten UP Calgary your lit-up homes, nativity, or North Pole scenes. Submit your details through the Web submission form: lightenupcalgary.ca

Ongoing; MARKT . by Spruce Meadows . That feeling of Christmas, delivered! Shop a wide online selection of the International Christmas Market! Take a free holiday family photo through the website, courtesy of TELUS! markt.sprucemeadows.com

December 11 to 31; Theatre Calgary Presents, A Christmas Carol . Not even Scrooge can prevent a joyous holiday tradition from taking place! Gather the family around the tree, and your screen, and enjoy a holiday tradition known worldwide. To purchase digital access: theatrecalgary.com

Weekends, December 12 & 13, 19 & 20, 21 to 23, 10am to 4pm; Once Upon a Christmas at Heritage Park Historical Village . Once Upon a Christmas returns to the Park for old-fashioned fun! Guests must reserve a time slot for select capacity-limited activities. These activities remain free with Once Upon a Christmas admission/valid annual pass, but a reservation is required for horse-drawn wagon rides, Santa visits, and live play in the Canmore Opera House (Dr. Billard’s Combustible Christmas). To purchase timed-entry tickets: heritagepark.ca

December 22, 2 to 3pm; Drawing Class: What’s in Your Stocking? The Calgary Public Library is drawing a stocking just for you! Do you like teddy bears? Candy canes? And maybe a present - what will it be? Led by Young Rembrandts. For ages 6 to 8. To register for the online class: calgarylibrary.ca

Until December 23, 9am to 5pm; Calgary Christmas Market . Warm yourself by a crackling fire, indulge your sweet tooth with a fresh BeaverTail, pick up your fresh Christmas tree, and find thoughtfully-crafted goods from your favorite vendors. Mark your calendars for a Magical Santa Experience*, visit with jolly old elf’s reindeer, and see the mean green humbug during Grinchmas! *Presale timed tickets required for a safe visit with Santa, including virtual photos: calgaryfarmersmarket.ca

Until December 31, 6 to 9pm; 25th Annual Airdrie Festival of Lights . With free parking and admission by cash donation, the festival is a low-cost way to bring family and friends together! Enjoy train rides, hot chocolate, fire pits, ice skating (weather-permitting), and walk amongst the many whimsical displays. Dogs on leashes welcome. Certain COVID-19 restrictions. Visit the website for updates: airdrielights.com

Until January 3, 5 to 9pm (excludes December 25 & 31); ZOOLIGHTS . The Calgary Zoo is brightening your experience with bigger, brighter, and more magical themes this year! New themed areas include Polar Wonderland, Journey to Wechiau, Enchanted Gardens, and more! Classic activities include a skating rink, rival axe throwing, lovers’ lane, and a (physically-distanced) visit with Santa in his cabin! 2 million twinkling lights bring ZOOLIGHTS to life. The Zoo is expanding their Sensory Sunday experience! Sundays, between 5 and 9pm (excluding November 29), the ZOOLIGHTS

Check out our online calendar FOR MORE EVENTS

experience will be altered to meet the needs of sensorysensitive guests. Timed tickets required and must be purchased in advance online: calgaryzoo.com

Until January 8, 6pm to midnight (December 24 & 25, 5pm to 1am); 34th Annual Lions Festival of Lights . The festival will illuminate Confederation Park Golf Course once again this holiday season! Drive by Calgary’s largest free Christmas light showcase. lionsfestivaloflights.ca

Until January 10; Legacy’s 6th Annual Lights Parade . With over 1 million lights, Legacy will be one of the brightest places for your family to enjoy. Drive through the community or bundle up and take a walk along the many lit-up streets and through tunnels of lights! There

CAMPS 3–14 Years

theBEST MEMORIES theFARM are made at

will be over 200,000 lights, new figurines, twinkling Christmas trees, and many other things to do! Take a glide on the skating rink at 412 Legacy View SE. Visit Wolf Willow for free hot drinks from food trucks on December 5, 12, and 19. Legacy Clock Tower, Legacy community: Next to 8 Legacy Circle SE.

MORE WINTER FUN

Ongoing, weekends starting in December (weatherpermitting); WinSport’s Tube Park . Tubing is the perfect activity for a day with family and friends. WinSport’s Tube Park is one of the fastest of its kind in Western Canada! winsport.ca

Until January 2, check website for showtimes;

StoryBook Theatre Presents, Annie the Musical .

With equal measures of pluck and positivity, little orphan Annie charms everyone’s hearts despite a next-to-nothing start in 1930s New York City. She is determined to find the parents who abandoned her on the doorstep of an orphanage run by the cruel, embittered Miss Hannigan. With the help of other girls in the orphanage, Annie escapes to the wondrous world of NYC. To purchase online streaming to the musical: storybooktheatre.org

January 16 (Marlborough Community Centre) & January 30 (710 Poplar Road SW), 11am to 3pm;

The City of Calgary Community Nature Adventure

Playground . Join for a self-directed, drop-in program that uses natural elements, like tree stumps, branches, twigs, rocks, and other loose part materials, to inspire active and creative outdoor play, connect people, young and old, to nature. Play ambassadors will be onsite to inspire play. Stay and watch your children’s imaginations soar in this new adventure space! calgary.ca/csps/freeactivities.html

Until January 24; Arctic Voices at TELUS Spark . Discover the majesty and fragility of the Arctic through interactive exhibits, wildlife biofacts from remarkable animals, and diverse stories from dedicated scientists and the resilient people that inhabit the region. Timed tickets

required: sparkscience.ca

These listings are provided for your reference only. Please research carefully and choose the companies that meet your family’s needs best. CCM

EARLY REGISTRATION BONUS Amazing ANIMAL Day Camps Information & Registration at ButterfieldAcres.com or call office 403-239-0638 All campers registered before midnight

Butterfield Acres is the perfect venue for March 31st get a FREE SEASON PASS! this memory-making, activity-packed camp! Go to ButterfieldAcres.com for registration Different animal highlights each day provide information. As always, register early if you a framework for the max in age-appropriate are wanting to be with a particular group of fun, participation, intrigue, adventure and friends, or if there’s a special camp week or dare-we-say... learning! time you need.

ButterfieldAcres.com