The Waterloo region can be a beautiful place in the holiday season, so let’s take advantage of that! Even though I’ve lived here for a few years, I still don’t know what activities to get involved in to feel the holiday cheer. Luckily, below are some activities you should check out to get into that fa la la spirit!
1. Bingeman’s Gift of Lights
The gift of lights is a 2.5-kilometre drive-through experience that features over 300 holiday light displays. Christmas music plays while you drive through and some of the lights are even animated. Now I know this sounds more like a thing that kids would love, but I love looking at Christmas lights during the holiday season. This is definitely something you and your friends can enjoy. If you prefer to walk outside, there are also walkthrough events that are held throughout the season at Bingeman’s that you should check out. I don’t know about you, but just looking at the Christmas lights and hearing beautiful Christmas music just puts me in a wonderful mood and it makes me forget about all the school that I have going on.
2. Waterloo Park Christmas Light Display
Another place you can go and look at a beautiful Christmas display is Waterloo Park. I went last year and I thought it was quite beautiful to just walk through and enjoy the moment. The scenes they had set up were actually quite interesting. I remember there was a Santa’s workshop display last year and it just made me very happy to see the other people walking around with their friends and their significant others and their families enjoying the lights as well. Now I don’t know exactly when they will be putting up their lights for this season, but I assume it’ll be soon!
3. Bingeman’s Jingle Bell Rock
To add on to the beautiful Gift of Lights held at Bingeman’s, there is also a cool light experience called Jingle Bell Rock. This is a walk-through holiday experience that lets you see so many beautiful outdoor displays of light and features a 40-foot dancing tree. You can walk through very cool special walking tunnels and see the sparkling illuminated decorations, or you can even relax at the open fire pits and enjoy a drink from the Yager ice bar and decorate cookies in Mrs. Claus’ kitchen. This sounds like a very cool experience and I can’t wait to go visit it this year! I mean who doesn’t like making cookies in Mrs. Claus’ kitchen?
4. The Village of St. Jacobs
During the month of November, the entire village of St. Jacobs creates a very special holiday shopping experience. There’s a ton of shopping, and hot chocolate at the cafes and many of the stores have extended hours and special offers for the holiday season. I don’t know about you, but something about walking around and just looking at all the beautiful stores and their special holiday sales makes me happy. You can either visit during the day and see St. Jacobs decorated with a lot of Christmas decorations or you can see it at night with all the beautiful lights glowing. I know this is an experience that I won’t want to miss for this holiday season and I can’t wait to go check it out!
With that being said, you can also check out the St. Jacobs farmers market where there will be a ton of vendors available for you to do your holiday shopping!
5. Heritage Holiday Train Rides
This one especially amazes me because I love trains. Now, I don’t care how old you are, holiday train rides are never to be missed. You might be reading this right now and thinking I’m way too old for that but honestly, no you aren’t because anything that happens in the holiday season is for all ages! The holidays are a time to go back to a time that was beautiful and had no stress. You can just simply exist within the wonderful worlds of Christmas and holiday lights. This train ride is run by the Waterloo Central Railway and can take you on two holiday rides: the daytime Santa’s countryside ride or the evening Santa’s Christmas caboose ride. The heritage holiday trains are a magical place to be and I can’t wait to check them out this year!
6. Christmas Pottery Workshop
This special holiday event is hosted by Midnight Run café partnered up with Crock A Doodle and is hosted on December 7th at 7:00 PM as well as on December 14th at 7:00 PM. This beautiful event includes a night full of pottery, warm drinks and sweet treats. It only costs $40, which includes a pottery painting, one Christmas drink and your brand-new mug to take home. You can start buying tickets on Midnight Run’s website. This is a perfect event for you and your friends to start off the holiday season!
Those are just 6 events that you can participate in that are hosted in the KW Region! There are a ton more you can choose from. The point is, there are in fact fun events you can take part in! So, get out there, grab some friends and share that warm holiday spirit! Have fun!