Should your desire for time-honoured holiday tradition include the twinkle of a thousand little lights, get thee to a garden. Where to start? Check out Vancouver Island’s endless evergreen in Qualicum Beach during
Milner Christmas Magic. A showcase of old growth Douglas firs and cedars decked out in shimmer, this outing offers musical interludes by local talents and sweet treats in the tearoom Fridays through Sundays in December. In Vancouver,
Bright Nights at Stanley Park, a yearly fundraiser for the BC Professional Fire Fighters’ Burn Fund, will bring out the crowds November 27 – January 2, for hot chocolate, roasted chestnuts, tours of the children’s farmyard, and a forest-fringed train ride through some two million twinkling lights. For more frolic in the city, a winter wonderland and 1.4 million sparkles will set the scene during the
Festival of Lights at VanDusen Botanical Garden, December 11 – January 3. The best part? There are more ways than one to view the city’s greenery: Christmas crooners can hop aboard the Vancouver Trolley December 11 - 12, and 18 - 24 for the
Karaoke Christmas Lights Trolley Tour – a memorable musical journey of Stanley Park and the VanDusen Botanical Garden. For an illuminating experience on the water, head to the shore for views of some 80 boats bedecked with lights: the
Carol Ship Parade of Lights, situated in Vancouver’s Coal Harbour December 3 – 23, promises a sea of sparkle with some 150,000 twinkles and a chorus of singing voices. Bright lights in the wild beckon in the Thompson Okanagan: during the
Wildlights Event, December 11 – January 3, the BC Wildlife Park in Kamloops will showcase over 350 shimmering life-sized wildlife sculptures, wagon rides to the “North Pole” on the Wildlife Miniature Train, and nightly shows of synchronized music, lights and festive fireworks. Family bonding is the name of the game in Northern BC. For a drive through a winter wonderland, point your compass to Prince George and take in the
Northern Lights Festival. This out-of-doors spectacle will gather the gang November 21 – January 2, as families bundle up for a scenic drive through snowy Connaught Hill Park; animated displays run the gamut from Santa’s reindeer to prehistoric creatures – all sure to light up the night.
www.milnergardens.org;
www.vancouverparks.ca;
www.vandusengarden.org;
www.vancouvertrolley.com;
www.carolships.org;
www.bczoo.org;
www.tourismpg.com
