December 14, 2010 | Tips from Travellers >
Dawson Creek, Festivals & Events
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The annual Old Fashioned Christmas Festival sponsored by the Rotary Club of Dawson Creek is held at Pioneer Village and is free to the public.
I went to meet up with some friends and was impressed to see so many people there.
As chance had it, the temperature climbed from a chilly -20 to a balmy -5 on the day of the outdoor festival and many in the community took full advantage of the reprieve from the cold.
It was dark already by the time the festivities began at 6pm and the Village was all lit up. There were two teams of horses giving rides to sleighs full of people, bonfires strategically placed around the village for hand warming and marshmallows and Santa hats everywhere.
Christmas carols were being played while hot dogs, hot chocolate and cookies were being passed out to everyone.
Chestnuts were actually being roasted on an open fire and the gentleman who was manning the roasting pan was being kept busy by an eager audience of young and old alike. I tried my first one and it was delicious. Kind of nutty.
December 01, 2010 | Tips from Travellers >
Dawson Creek, Festivals & Events
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The weather for this year's annual Tree Light Up was a bit chilly, it was minus 20 something on the morning of November 19, and we almost decided to stay home by the fire instead of getting all bundled up and driving in to town, but we had arranged to meet some friends, so away we went.
The City of Dawson Creek moved the Mile O Post to a temporary location at the Northern Alberta Railway Park, a block north of it's usual home and put up a 35-40 foot tree in it's place and draped it with multi-colored lights. The streets have been decorated with big white snowflakes and it really is beginning to look a lot like Christmas here.
I'm glad we went because it turned out to be a great community party and the cold weather actually added to the fun.
It's nice to offer events like this to both the people who live here and also the many who find themselves far away from home and staying in our hotels, motels and bed & breakfasts.
Many of the local businesses were open for the light up celebration and some were handing out hot chocolate, hot cider, popcorn and even glow sticks.
There were kids of all ages mingling around and of course Santa was there too.