‘Tis the season to be jolly

December in Vancouver

If someone asked me about the best time to come to Vancouver, I would have to say July and August to enjoy the amazing Vancouver summer but Christmas time would definitely be next on my list. Besides the accessible skiing on the three mountains closest to the city – Grouse Mountain, Seymour and Cypress – as well as in one of Canada’s most popular ski regions, Whistler, Vancouver doesn’t hold back when it comes to Christmassy events. From end of November until early January, the city features numerous Christmas and craft markets, carol singing in Gastown and Christmas lights. With the city completely covered in snow, I think it’s a good time to pay a visit to the Festival of Lights happening at the Botanical Gardens.

Van Dusen Botantical Gardens – Festival of Lights

Nothing comes for free in this city so I’m not surprised to learn that the entrance fee for the Festival of Lights is 18 CAD (11 GBP / 13 EUR). But as soon as I enter the Botanical Gardens, I think it’s completely worth it. The entire park is decorated with what must be millions of lights. Every little detail, from handrails to street lights, is quite literally highlighted. Around every half an hour, the little island in the pond is the star of a music and light show with different features of the island being lit up in time with the music. It’s simply jaw-dropping and beautiful. My friend Andy and I wander around for around an hour and a half before we decide that even the mulled wine doesn’t sufficiently warm us up anymore –it’s down to minus 5 degrees Celsius today – and we head for dinner to downtown.

Christmas Lights and a walk in Stanley Park

Particularly targeted at families, Stanley Park, which is actually a forest not a park, has its very own, illuminated Christmas event called Bright Nights in Stanley Park. In contrast to the botanical gardens, it is considerably smaller and there is no fee as such but a voluntary donation, however the installation features a miniature train that takes visitors through the illuminated forest. Andy and I get there after a long walk along the Seawall, a walking and cycle path that goes all around the outer edge of Stanley Park starting from English Bay Beach over Second and Third Beach, past Prospect Point and ending up back at the West Georgia Street park entrance, where the Bright Nights are taking place. I consider myself lucky, in contrast to many Vancouverites, that this winter is an abnormally cold and frosty one. According to my colleagues, several weeks of snow and temperatures below zero going down to minus 10 degrees Celsius is pretty much unheard of. But despite the fact that the city doesn’t have enough salt to de-ice the slippery pavements and the pipes of our flat’s washing machine, which is based outside in a little shed, keep freezing up on a regular basis, I thoroughly enjoy the beautiful wintery weather.

On our walk past Stanley Park, this wonderful frostiness provides us with really surprising natural beauty that neither of us have expected: Icicles are hanging down from the rocks flanking the path, while the rocks themselves are completely frozen over with a layer of ice. On one rock, warmer water coming down from the trees on top of the rocks has created a path through the icy layer. The sand on Third beach is only half covered in snow, so are the mountains on the other side of the ocean in West and North Vancouver. We arrive at the Bright Nights festival when the red evening glow is fading and it’s getting dark, just in time to enjoy the lights in the dark before the cold convinces us that it’s time to head back downtown again.

More jolliness

The month of December almost seemed too short to check out all the festive events going on in Vancouver. Being German, I had to check out the German Christmas Market though, this year for the first time taking place at Jack Poole Plaza, Canada Place for some mulled wine and Bratwurst. Although the Christmas market is relatively small, it features all the must-haves of a traditional German Christmas Market: Mulled wine, Bratwurst and other German foods, only German beers (!), little huts selling Christmas decoration, clothing and even Christmas suits (possibly a continuation from the infamous and deliberately ugly Christmas jumpers à la Bridget Jones of which I am also a proud owner). Despite the cold, a live band is playing in the centre of the market in front of a cosy tent where people can sit down and enjoy their food and drink underneath the heaters – or simply warm up their stiff fingers.

I had to give other Christmassy events a miss, unfortunately as I would have loved to check out at least the Enchant Christmas maze but the latter will be for another time. For further inspiration with regards to what to do around Christmas time in Vancouver, follow this link.

*Photos courtesy of my friend Andy as my camera died  🙁