The Distillery at Christmas

Once again this year, the Distillery District will be the home of Lowe's Christmas Market. The already beautiful Victorian pedestrian district gets all gussied up with lights, a gigantic tree, and lots of additional opportunities for shopping, drinking & entertainment.

 

There's something for everyone at this event. For those looking to take care of some of their Christmas shopping, in addition to the Distillery's usual shops and artisans, small wooden chalets are set up throughout the lanes, each housing a unique vendor. Traditional foods and gift items will be in abundance. A list of vendors is available here. And as an added bonus, MasterCard is offering free gift wrapping for any purchases made at the Market which were paid for using a MasterCard.

If you plan to bring your kids to the Market, apart from the regular entertainment and fantastic food treats, there's also a ferris wheel to ride, and Santa's Lane to visit. The Lane features storytelling, a fairy tale forest maze, Rudolph's reindeer zoo, Santa's House and more.

For those just looking to hang out and have a good time, there's plenty of entertainment scheduled. A daily fixture will be the Candy Cane Carollers, who perform Christmas favourites in four-part harmony at various times throughout the day. Local choirs and bands will also provide entertainment, and on weekends and select weekdays, solo artists will perform on the mainstage. Steven Page will help open the festivities on December 2, and other performers include David Myles, David Usher and Suzie McNeil. And if you're like me and prefer to keep the cold at bay with a beverage, there are 3 beer gardens and 3 hospitality lounges serving a variety of drinks. Free samples will even be offered at select times at each of the lounge venues. And there's always the hot chocolate at Soma, one of the best things about the Distillery at any time of year.

The Market opens December 2 and runs until December 18th. Admission is free.