Christmas is coming to downtown London

With Christmas about six weeks away, downtown London is preparing for the holiday season ahead.

Before you know it, Victoria Park will be a spectacle of lights, with 75,000 lights being lit for the lighting of the lights event on Dec 2.

The ‘downtown for the holidays’ campaign was announced on Wednesday as local organizations came together to bring back old favourites and new events.

DOWNTOWN FOR THE HOLIDAYS FULL LIST OF EVENTS:

• Lighting Of The Lights at Victoria Park – Dec. 2 6:15-:6:50 p.m.
• Holly Jolly Holiday Market - Covent Garden Market Dec. 2
• New Year’s Eve in the park - Victoria Park - Dec. 31st at 9 p.m.
• Music and Art crawl – Dec. 2,3,4 and Dec. 8,9,10,11
• Magical carousel - Dundas Place - Dec. 9 & 10
• Holiday Window Display Walk – Dec. 2-31
• Illuminated Light Trail – Dec. 2-18
• Ice skating - Victoria Park (no start date set yet)

“We want a lot of people to come downtown and enjoy creative activities throughout the month of December,” said Ryan Craven, the manager of core area programs with the City of London.

“People can visit small businesses, go out for dinner, and have magical Christmas experiences.”

Organizations helping to coordinate this project include the City of London, through the London Community Recovery Network, Downtown London, Dundas place, Covent Garden Market, and Tourism London.

What's new this year?

“The big difference this year is we will be having horse-drawn carriage rides from Covent Garden Market to Victoria Park,” said Amy Shackleton, with the Covent Garden Market which will be home to Santa’s house this year after it was relocated.

“We will have lots of entertainment including kid's activities.”

The outdoor rotary square outside the market will transform into a holiday village with Santa’s house, artisan and food vendors.

There will also be free hot chocolate, a licensed cocktail garden with fire pits, live music, and of course, a Christmas tree.

People can also look forward to free festivities including a carousel on Dundas Place and musical performances.

“There will be lots of contests, lots of entertainers throughout the downtown,” said Barbara Maly, the executive director of the Downtown London.

Maly says the number of businesses getting involved is growing.

She hopes the campaign will encourage people to visit the downtown and support local businesses recover from closures in the early stages of the pandemic.

“The goal is also to get more people on the street downtown, but just to let Londoners have that nostalgic feeling once again,” Maly said.

One change this year — the skating at the Covent Garden Market will be postponed until the New Year, however, there will be a skating rink at Victoria Park, according to Shackleton.