Celebrating 20 years, the Bright Night Christmas Train in Stanley Park is a highlight of the holiday season in my eyes. Not only does everyone get to share in the the magic of Stanley Park, but under millions of sparkling lights this event raises funds for such a worthy cause.
Bright Nights Christmas Train in Stanley Park
Dates
Matinee train
Night train
November 30 – December 14
Friday to Sunday
10:00am – 2:30pm
Monday to Sunday
3:00pm – 10:00pm
December 15 – 24
Daily
10:00am – 2:30pm
Daily
3:00pm – 11:00pm
December 25
Closed
Closed
December 26
10:00am – 2:30pm
3:00pm – 11:00pm
December 27 – January 1
Daily
10:00am – 2:30pm
Daily
3:00pm – 10:00pm
January 2 – 6
(train only, no live actors)
Closed
Daily
4:00pm – 9:00pm
Admission
Admission to the train plaza is by donation ($4 suggested). Enjoy three million twinkling lights, displays, live performers, and get photos with Santa. Purchase snacks, hot and cold drinks, and light meals at the Railway Café concession stand. Or buy hot buttered popcorn at the Stanley Park Ecology Society’s Cob House in the plaza.
The matinee train ride is a great daytime activity for families, school groups, and groups with children. Journey through the forest with holiday music past magical displays. Note: There are no live performers during matinee train rides.
Train Tickets
You must buy a ticket to ride the train. Tickets are sold in half-hour time slots. Several trains will depart within each time slot. Your ticket is valid for one Bright Nights ride during the time slot shown on the ticket. Buy online or phone 604-252-3700 with TicketLeader online. Ticket sales start at 10:00am (12:00pm when there no matinee trains).
Bright Nights has on-site and overflow parking lots. All parking is free. Overflow lots include the Info Booth, Yacht Club, Totem Poles, Brockton Point, North Pipeline Road, and Beaver Lake lots.
Bright Nights Charity Partners
Proceeds support the Greater Vancouver Food Bank Society and the BC Professional Fire Fighters’ Burn Fund. Bring non-perishable food items for the food bank and a suggested $4 donation for the Burn Fund (upon admission).
Tips
Avoid the crowds and come out Monday to Thursday in the first two weeks.
Purchase your ticket online in advance, it’s going to be busy!
Follow Bright Nights in Stanley Park on Facebook and Twitter for more information.
TELUS presents the Vancouver Santa Claus Parade, the largest Christmas parade celebrated in Western Canada, on the first Sunday in December. Join in the free, family-friendly fun with live entertainment and activities, along with supporting the Greater Vancouver Food Bank and the CKNW Orphans’ Fund
Vancouver Santa Claus Parade
When: Sunday, December 3, 2017 12:00pm Parade Route: At 12:00pm, the parade will begin at W Georgia St and Broughton, travel east along W Georgia, turn south on Howe and finish at Howe and Davie.
This year’s Vancouver Santa Claus Parade will feature marching bands, dance troupes, festive floats and community groups, which entertain over 300,000 spectators.
A very special part of the TELUS presents the Vancouver Santa Claus Parade is celebrating the “Spirit of Giving.” Each year, on parade day, volunteers collect non-perishable food items and monetary donations on behalf of the Greater Vancouver Food Bank Society. For every $1 donated, the Food Bank can purchase $3 worth of food!
The parade also has a new partnership with the CKNW Orphans’ Fund. If just 200 people donate $10 each, the CKNW Orphans’ Fund can send a child with special needs to speech therapy, tutoring, or even ensure they have custom hearing aids.
More Activities and Fun
Breakfast with Santa at the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver (9:00am to 10:30am)
A delicious breakfast buffet and exclusive meet & greet with Santa before the TELUS presents the Vancouver Santa Claus Parade. $35 per adult, $15 per child. Full pre-payment at time of booking, inclusive of taxes & gratuity. Reservations 604-647-0517.
Christmas Square (10:00am to 12:00pm)
Parade spectators are encouraged to arrive early for pre-parade fun. The free festivities begin at 10:00 a.m. with two hours of family entertainment at the Christmas Square the North side of the Vancouver Art Gallery. The Christmas Square includes a Food Bank drop off, face painting, Letters to Santa station, and an entertainment stage featuring Live music by LeftCoast.
TELUS Photos with Santa (2:00pm to 4:00pm)
Free photos with Santa after the parade at TELUS Garden (510 W Georgia St)
Vancouver Santa Claus Parade presented by TELUS on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram along with the tag #TELUSSantaClausParade.
Did you know that Santa spends late fall over in Nanaimo? Last year I got to hang out with the jolly old elf himself when I was researching the Kris Kringle Craft Market, and this year I’m giving away some passes to this fun family event.
Kris Kringle Craft Market
Where: Beban Park Social Centre (2300 Bowen Rd, Nanaimo) When: Thursday, November 16 – Sunday, November 19, 2017 Tickets: Daily pass ($10), 4 day pass ($15), Kringle Kiss 2 for 1 evening tickets on Thursday and Friday
In Nanaimo, the Christmas holidays begin with the Kris Kringle Craft Market. Experience the timeless wonder of Christmas pasts in this warm, charmed old world setting with the Kringle Family and special guest entertainers at Beban Park Social Centre. Meet Kris & Karole Kringle and their daughters Princess Kringle, Krystal Princess and yes the many merry making Elves too.
With 4 days to explore Kringland there are over 150 professional artisans showcasing their unique wares. You can choose jewelry to flatter any neckline, scarves and handbags to match the latest clothing style. The pottery pieces that are oven proof dishes can be filled with savoury & sweet delights created from Artisans foods and served on new Christmas table cloths. Shop unique gifts for kids like the wooden toys, woollen mittens and jackets made from repurposed materials.
Come early at openings as you will be entertained with free cake and coffee. Enjoy live entertainment, horse carriage rides, and hot chocolate. Come daily with your 4 day pass and each day get a new ticket to enter into hundreds of hourly door prizes and daily grand prizes too including a trip for 2 anywhere WestJet flies!
Win Tickets
I have a 4-pack of one day passes to give away, if you make your way over to Nanaimo or if you’re a local, it the Kris Kringle Craft Market is a fantastic holiday shopping & entertainment destination. Here’s how you can enter to win:
I will draw one winner at random from all entries at 12:00pm on Tuesday, November 14, 2017. Follow the Kris Kringle Craft Market on Facebook for more info.
This post has been contributed by Ben Hill, Communications Volunteer with the Stanley Park Ecology Society (“SPES”).
For many of us swallows are synonymous with summer. They arrive as the days get longer and disappear for the warmer weather of South America as summer turns to fall. One of the most memorable parts of a summer visit to Lost Lagoon is watching the lightning fast, acrobatic flight of the swallows as they swoop low over the water to catch insects.
Although the swallows that nest in Stanley Park have left on their fall migration, Stanley Park Ecology Society (“SPES”) is still hard at work to make sure they have the best possible conditions for nesting in the Park next year.
A tree swallow leaves its nest box on Lost Lagoon. Photo: Michael Schmidt.
SPES constructs and maintains nest boxes along the edges of Lost Lagoon that are used by tree swallows and violet green swallows. Additionally, we install larger boxes on poles around Beaver Lake for the cavity nesting wood ducks. With the number of old trees suitable for these cavity-nesting birds in short supply in the Park, our nest boxes provide critical nesting support for this duck species.
SPES staff install a wood duck box at Beaver Lake. Photo: Michael Schmidt.
Over the winter our volunteers clean and repair the boxes and also continue their work in improving the habitat for all our nesting birds. This involves removing invasive plants, planting native species and enhancing habitat. One recent project involved rehabilitating the habitat of islands in Lost Lagoon to provide safe resting and nesting spots for all birds that frequent the lake.
You can help our work to make a home for these special birds by donating on Giving Tuesday on November 28th. Giving Tuesday is a day where charities, companies and individuals join together to share commitments, rally for favourite causes and think about others – a community alternative to the sales of Black Monday.
A gift of $30 builds and installs a nestbox in the Park
A gift of $75 builds a nest box and supports our work monitoring swallow populations
A gift of $200 funds a nest box building workshop for the public, to help spread this valuable work across the Lower Mainland.
One of the province’s other swallow species, the barn swallow, provides an indication of how vulnerable our nesting birds can be. Unlike the tree swallows, it doesn’t use nest boxes but rather makes a nest of mud and straw on rafters and edges under roofs of buildings and barns. The horse barn in Stanley Park hosts an important colony that this year had 54 nests and raised 77 fledglings.
Barn swallow chicks in Stanley Park. Photo: Erika Hyde
However, changes to building methods in the last half-century have reduced available nesting areas for these beautiful birds and an increase in pesticides on agricultural land has impacted their insect food supply, so the province now officially classifies them as threatened. In fact, all swallow species have shown a dramatic decline since 1970 and that decline is speeding up.
You can help us ensure that swallows remain a part of summer in Stanley Park in the future by supporting us on November 28th. Please donate online here.
Chirp!
As a member of the Stanley Park Ecology Society (“SPES”), I wanted to offer the organization an opportunity to share their news, events, and work so I created the “SPES Series” years ago. This is where SPES can contribute and share stories with my audience once a month. Follow SPES on Facebook for more information.
The Museum of Anthropology (“MOA”) along with the Musqueam Indian Band present the inspiring and interactive new exhibition The Fabric of Our Land: Salish Weaving, running from November 19, 2017 to April 15, 2018.
Curated by MOA Curator Susan Rowley, in collaboration with Salish weavers, the exhibition will feature the historically significant, but relatively unknown, loom-weaving tradition of Salish peoples, showcasing one of the world’s largest collections of intricately designed blankets on loan from contemporary weavers, as well as museums in Europe and the eastern United States.
Collection of the National Museum of Finland. Photo: Markku Haverinen.
The Fabric of Our Land: Salish Weaving
Where: Museum of Anthropology (UBC, 6393 NW Marine Drive) When: November 19, 2017 to April 15, 2018
The exhibition is the result of a request from Musqueam Councillor and master weaver Wendy Grant John, who after viewing some of the weavings at the Smithsonian in Washington, DC was struck by their power to impart knowledge and inspiration to Salish weavers and the public. She has worked for more than 30 years to bring transformative change to Indigenous communities across the country and build stronger relationships between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people.
“The process of colonization took the same devastating toll on Salish weaving as it did on countless other Indigenous cultural practices,” said Rowley, MOA Curator. “Mass-produced Hudson Bay Company blankets replaced hand-woven creations, the reserve system constrained access to required resources, the Indian Act banned ceremonies where blankets played an integral role, and residential schools broke the intergenerational transmission of knowledge. The resilience and strength of amazing women have led to the revival of Salish weaving in different communities at different times.”
The Fabric of Our Land: Salish Weaving will take visitors on a journey through the past 200 years of Salish wool weaving from the early 1800s through to today’s vibrant Renaissance.
Ten of the earliest known Salish weavings are showcased in the exhibition on loan from the National Museum of Finland, the Perth Museum (Scotland), the Pitt-Rivers Museum (England), the Harvard Peabody Museum, and the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History. These institutions acquired these treasures from early traders and explorers who removed them from their traditional territories. Territories encompass the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, southeastern Vancouver Island, the Sunshine Coast, the Fraser Canyon, and Puget Sound.
These early works will be featured alongside five mountain goat wool blankets from MOA’s collection dating from the late 1800s and early 1900s. More than 20 weavings from the 1960s to present day – some from MOA’s collection and others on loan from contemporary weavers – will demonstrate the continuity of weaving despite colonization.
At various times throughout the run of the exhibition, Musqueam master weaver and educator Debra Sparrow will reactivate an old loom from MOA’s collection by weaving a new blanket. Visitors will also have the opportunity to further their understanding by learning through doing at several looms in the exhibition space.
Win Passes
I have a family 4-pack of tickets to give away for the opening day of this exhibition, on Sunday, November 19, 2017. Here’s how you can enter to win:
Leave a comment on this post (1 entry)
Click below to post an entry on Twitter
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I will draw one winner at random from all entries at 12:00pm on Thursday, November 16, 2017. Follow MOA on Twitter and Facebook for more information about this exhibition and more.
