Lights, ice, and Santa parades: What’s up in December

Kids dig mittens and toques out of drawers. Parents tug big parkas from closets and foist them on grouchy teenagers. Scarves are spun stylishly around bare necks and tucked into wool jackets.

December dawns cold and rainy in the Fraser Valley. But its residents aren’t the only ones dressing up warm for the coming month. The valley itself is getting dressed up, too, but instead of scarves and gloves, its buildings are festooned with ribbons and lights—and its calendar bedecked with the baubles of festive December events.

Festivals and parades

Christmas festivals and parades will make up some of this month’s biggest events. Many of the festivals will stretch out for most of the month, with different smaller events like shopping specials and dances each weekend. Others, like parades in different Fraser Valley cities, will shut down a large chunk of the town for a day as festive floats truck down city streets. 

Chilliwack’s recently-redesigned downtown shopping area, District 1881, will hold a Christmas festival this year. The festivities will run until Christmas Eve and include a Christmas train, a ferris wheel, and photos with Santa. There’s also an ugly Christmas sweater party on Dec. 9.

Aldergrove’s Christmas Light Up Parade will run through downtown Aldergrove on Saturday, Dec. 16. Also in Langley, Martini Town—a movie set turned into a Christmassy New York—will be open to the public until January.

In Harrison, the annual Lights by the Lake festival will brighten the nights until January. Light displays feature local wildlife and the Sasquatch myths that the area is famous for. Lights will be strung along two kilometres of lakeside on a wheelchair-accessible pathway. 

The CP Holiday Train, a travelling musical Christmas celebration, will make two stops in the region this holiday season. Lytton will play host to the train on Sunday, Dec. 17, for an 11:30 am show. Then the party will roll west to Agassiz for another free show on the same day at 5:45 pm at the station on Pioneer Avenue.

House lights

While big, busy festivals and parades are exciting and plenty of fun, sometimes a quieter, calmer (and warmer) way of seeing some festive Christmas lights is called for. Some of the cleverest light displays are elsewhere—on the fronts of houses in neighborhoods across the valley. 

Some communities act on the artistic instincts of their members and organize to ensure cars full of Christmas-light seekers know exactly where to go to find the best free urban light shows from the comfort of their cars. 

Williams Park in Langley is one such neighborhood. This year is the community’s 33rd year of an annual, volunteer-crafted light display. It runs from 5 to 9pm every day until Dec. 17 on 238 Street. 

Chilliwack is also a hotspot for festive Christmas houses. For a more spread-out adventure, explore the list that Chilliwack realtors put together every year of the most festive houses in the area, and pop by one or two near you.

Winter fun

Family-friendly winter events, though, aren’t limited to Santa visits and Christmas carols. There are plenty of ways to chase away the dreary darkness of December. 

One of these activities is public skating. Rent some skates or bring your own and stumble (or glide effortlessly) around the ice in arenas around the Fraser Valley.

Langley | Mission | Abbotsford | Chilliwack | Hope 

While there isn’t any snow on the ground or in the forecast for the Fraser Valley yet this December, most winters will see some of the white stuff on the ground by the end of the month. If you’re waiting with your fingers crossed for a classic snowy Christmas, pull the sleds out of the garage and add a little bit of winter adventure to your plans with some of the best tobogganing spots in the Fraser Valley.

Abbotsford: Rotary Park, Bateman Park, Everett Park, and Townline Hill

Chilliwack: Hill outside the Prospera Centre, Promontory Elementary

Langley: Jumping field on 16th Avenue in Campbell Valley Park, Meadow’s Edge Park, Routley Park

Mission: Griner Park, Heritage Park