This year, St. Albert embraces its winter season of light with a new guest.
As the sun dips below the horizon at 5 p.m. and darkness covers the region, Christmas Glow is the new light festival designed to dispel winter blues.
More than 500,000 lights have been strung across the Enjoy Centre’s greenhouse to create an illuminated wonderland.
The incredible lightscape officially opened to the public on Thursday, Nov. 22, and the Gazette can confirm the beautiful Christmas displays are definitely worth a visit. It is open until Jan. 19, 2019.
The brainchild of Darvonda Nurseries from Langley, B.C., this unique winter light display blends Christmas themes with seasonal horticultural plants – poinsettias and evergreens. The light displays are upbeat and stunning. In contrast, the soft plant scents waft through the air creating a calming effect.
Almost the first thing you see after passing through admittance is a majestic life-size stag pointing to a gigantic floor-to-ceiling red Christmas ball. The sparkling Christmas ornament has doorways and on this day, two teenage girls are inside taking selfies and posting them.
David Green, a father of two who brought his sons for a visit, has toured the entire lightscape and remains gobsmacked by the red ball.
“The ball is amazing,” says Green. “The whole thing is amazing. I think it’s fantastic and a good thing for the area.”
He waits for his sons at the pop-up Disney-esque Railroad Station while they ride a four-car electric train pulled by a locomotive.
Twelve-year-old Jake Green describes the ride as “fun. It gives it a nice touch to the area. It gives it a Christmas touch.”
The 210-foot musical tunnel is its own wonder. As Michael Bublé and Nat King Cole croon traditional holiday chestnuts, the tunnel’s 50,000 lights dance in a pantheon of rainbow colours.
In a doorway just off the tunnel is the Icicle Cavern, a large area consisting of long, plastic tubes encasing hundreds of glowing LED lights. As the tubes hang from the ceiling, people run through them getting softly smacked in the face. But there’s no outcry. Only giggles of laughter.
“This is a really good exhibit,” says Christa Kehrig, mother of preschoolers who just explored the cavern.
“It’s really amazing. Lots of open space for kids to run in and the opportunity for photos is amazing. The smells make me think about Christmas, and I like you don’t have to spend additional money when you get in.”
At the back of the greenhouse is series of dreamy play swings that look like hollowed out moons. Kids of all ages are jumping into the hoops for a round of nostalgic moments.
Just a few steps away is a kid-popular hopscotch. The hopscotch looks like giant mushroom caps popping out of the earth. As children jump from one circle to the other, lights change colour.
“It’s interactive. It’s fun for kids. And I like the vibrant colours,” said Lee Ingram watching her energetic six-year-old daughter Rhys, skip across the circles.
Adults are more likely to appreciate various animal tableaux of affectionate polar bears and penguins that tell their own winter story.
Two Disney princesses, Cinderella and Belle, were hired to stroll through the site and they held court in a traditional coach that appeared spun out of fairy magic. They invited children to sit on the carriage’s plush red seats covered by a twinkling umbrella-shaped roof.
For munchkins bursting with energy, a large open play area with slides and climbing apparatus is also available.
No holiday adventure is complete sans a visit with Santa or a North Pole mailbox to post requests. So drop by, check out the marketplace and buy a few treats or order a drink.
For ticket information, visit www.glowgardens.com/christmas-edmonton/.
