If you haven’t truly started celebrating the season then St. Albert and Morinville are hoping that their festivals this weekend will be more than enough to change your mind.
The Snowflake Festival is a St. Albert tradition that is about more than a big Christmas tree having its lights turned on along the city’s oldest shopping district. It’s about the community rallying together in peace and for the goodwill of all.
“It’s just such a great event,” said Meggan Nepoose-Hill, events manager with the St. Albert and District Chamber of Commerce, the organizer of the festival.
“We have 50 sponsors and we probably have 50 volunteers helping as well to make it run smoothly. I’m so grateful to the people of St. Albert for that.”
The festival runs from 6:30 to 9 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 23, throughout the Perron District. The Christmas tree gets lit right around the start of the festival to make sure everyone has lots of time to take everything in.
“We’re trying to be on time so that people can enjoy the festival. Two and a half hours is a short amount of time.”
There are lots of ways for people and their families to enjoy the festival. The big guy – Santa – will arrive on a fire truck and head straight to Santa’s Village where he and the elves will get their photos taken and receive gift requests, but only if you haven’t been naughty.
Elsewhere, some cartoony creatures will join in the fun. Look for the Grinch plus Olaf (from the Disney movie Frozen) along the Winter Boulevard and around the site.
“Olaf is something that we added. He is just so popular. I guess people just don’t want to let it go,” she said, certainly laughing with her tongue in cheek since Let It Go is the name one of that movie’s most popular songs.
Still on the theme of ‘frozen’, there will be a live ice sculpture display, which is always a crowd-pleaser, especially if the balmy weather holds. Families can also mingle at the petting zoo and take in other entertainments. The ever-popular horse-drawn wagon ride will certainly draw the throngs in, too. Nepoose-Hill has heard that the lines are often long but many people are more than happy to wait for their chance.
You can even get a head start on your Christmas shopping while sipping hot cocoa or coffee. Many of the area’s businesses and restaurants will not only stay open late but some also have customer appreciation events or sales for shoppers to take advantage of.
Since it’s also the unofficial start of the season of giving, attendees are encouraged to bring donations for the St. Albert Kinettes’ Fill-A-Bus.
To accommodate the street party, both St. Thomas and Perron streets will be closed, plus St. Anne Street will be partially closed. It will be reduced to one lane in each direction.
There is a free park and ride that will run every 10 minutes from Village Transit Station from 5:30 to 9:40 p.m. Those who still wish to drive down to the site will find the City Hall parking lot open but there will be only one access to the main parking lot on St. Thomas Street.
Check www.stalbertchamber.com for details.
Lite Up the Nite all weekend long
If you like your winter festivals to last more than an evening then Morinville is the place to be. Its annual Lite Up the Nite festival officially starts on Thursday and runs right through till Sunday.There is a bit of bad news for many though, as the town had to cancel its planned fireworks as it was not able to secure the location for the display.
“Our main focus is definitely the safety and well being of all of the attendees. As the community grows, we just have to look at the opportunities of fireworks and how we can incorporate them into future celebrations,” said Chantal Godberson, events and culture programmer with the Town of Morinville.
In their stead, organizers have prepared some dazzling performers to do the entertaining instead.
And now, the good news. The festival has been running for 22 years and it’s just as popular as ever. It’s a full weekend with something for everyone, Godberson said.
The Musée Morinville Museum actually starts things off on Thursday with An Old-Fashioned Christmas display featuring a variety of different exhibits and pieces from old-fashioned Christmases.
“They are things that you might recognize from growing up, things that your grandparents or your great-grandparents might have had from Christmases past. (It’s nice to) just have that old tradition come back.”
Events continue over the next few days until they wrap up Sunday, but Saturday is the big day for the fest, featuring a craft fair, Children and Youth Festival and more. That's also the day of the festival parade, which takes to 100 Avenue at 5:30 p.m. followed by the Lite Up St. Jean Baptiste Park. You can warm up with the St. Jean Baptiste Parish at 6 p.m. and get ready for the outdoor concert. See Anna Borowiecki’s preview on page 36 for details.
Expect the community to come out in droves for the fun throughout the weekend.
To chill things back out on Sunday, people can Skate with Santa from 12:45 to 2:15 p.m. at the Ray McDonald Sports Centre and then take in an event called Dot to Dot in the Sky. Author Joan Marie Galat will lead attendees in a special starry activity at 2 p.m. at the Morinville Community Library. She has published books on constellations so she’ll talk about stars and answer both celestial and astronomical questions as best she can.
“The library took a really cool spin on ‘Lite Up the Nite’. Instead of just making it a Christmas theme or holiday theme, they decided to go with constellations because the stars light up the sky,” Godberson said.
For the organizer, this weekend will be the highlight of her entire year.
“It’s a big weekend but it’s why I got into doing these events because you get to bring a community together. I think that’s one of the most valuable things. It’s exhausting but it’s worth it.”
