Submitted by City of Castlegar
Get ready, Santa Claus is coming to town!
Castlegar’s winter celebrations include new activities for children and families this year. This year’s activities are themed “A December to Remember – Winter Wonderland.”
The following events will take place at Spirit Square (in front of City Hall, located at 460 Columbia Avenue).
Saturday, Dec. 9
Noon to 4 p.m.
• Live entertainment
• Free hotdogs, cookies, nachos, and a s’more station hosted by Rotary
• Kids craft booths, a fishing pond for your chance to win a prize and face painting. Please bring a bag to store your crafts.
• Petting zoo, with an opportunity to feed apples to goats
• Santa arrives just before 1:30 p.m.
• Pictures with Santa ($20 for a professional photo - fundraiser for Rotary)
• Community in Bloom craft booth
• Circle of Indigenous Nations Society on site
Evening
• City Hall Christmas tree lighting at 5 p.m.
• Outside movie (Polar Express) starting at 5 p.m. Please bring chairs and blankets. Castlegar Rotary Clubs will be serving popcorn and hot chocolate.
Free shuttle bus
A free shuttle bus hosted by MTI will pick up and drop off at the Castlegar & District Recreation Centre and Stanley Humphries Secondary School, beginning at 11:30 a.m. at the Recreation Centre. The bus will then head to Stanley Humphries and on to Spirit Square every 30 minutes. The last bus will depart downtown at 6:30 p.m. after the movie.
These events are graciously sponsored by: Castlegar News, Castlegar Rotary Club, Castlegar Sunrise Rotary, Trowlex Rentals & Sales, Columbia Power Corporation, Dirty Diggers, Mountain Transport Institute (MTI), Castlegar Realty, Shoppers Drug Mart, Pharmasave, Blueberry Creek Community School Hub, Safeway, Steve’s No Frills Castlegar, McDonald’s, Yanive Feiner (Supercat Studios), Kootenay Savings Credit Union and the Heaton-Sherstobitoff, Brown and Bazaar families.
More December events
• The city is sponsoring free matinees of the 1998 tale Jack Frost at Kootenay Centre Cinemas on Dec 2. Tickets are only available at the door so arrive early!
• Santa and his elves will visit schools and daycares to deliver holiday cheer, collect letters to return to the North Pole and share an ornament made by Selkirk College with all children from Dec. 4 to 15.
• The city is sponsoring a free skate with Santa at the Castlegar and District Recreation Centre on Dec. 16 from noon to 1 p.m.
Light contest
The city has partnered with Castlegar News, FortisBC, and Mercer Celgar to bring a Merry and Bright holiday decoration contest to Castlegar again this season. Judges will tour Castlegar after dark on Sunday, Dec. 17, and select first and second-place winners for the best and most creative holiday displays. The winners will be announced in the Dec. 21 edition of the Castlegar News and will share $1,500 in gift certificates to Castlegar restaurants, activities, shops, and stores. To enter, send your address and a photo of your holiday display to info@castlegar.ca.
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