Christmas will once again come early to Bragg Creek, when the hamlet hosts the 13th annual Bragg Creek Spirit of Christmas Festival in early December. Throughout the first two weekends of the month, businesses and facilities within Bragg Creek will play host to a variety of free Christmas-related activities – including wagon rides, Christmas arts and crafts, card-making, cookie-decorating, story-telling and more. The festival will also include opportunities to cozy up around a fire pit, sipping hot apple cider, mulled wine or hot chocolate. The Bragg Creek and Area Chamber of Commerce sponsors the yearly tradition, which is organized by a Spirit of Christmas sub-committee. Committee Chair Marie-Louise Eagar said the festival originated primarily as a way to attract visitors to the hamlet in December, but has grown in popularity throughout the years. “Each year, our numbers seem to increase,” she said. “It’s very well-attended and well-known, so we don’t have to do too much advertising.” Last year’s festival saw roughly 700 participants come to Bragg Creek each day of the festival, according to Eagar. For the event to run smoothly, she added, at least 40 volunteers are required. “It brings a lot of people in, and the kids just love it,” she said. “They get to do all sorts of different things they might not get to do in one day.” Of course, no Christmas-related festival would be complete without a visit from the big, jolly man himself. According to Eagar, Santa Claus will appear sporadically throughout the two weekends. “He sometimes rides around on the wagons and switches off from one wagon to the other, or he’ll stop off at the seniors’ centre and visit with the children who are there at the time,” she said. Characters from the children’s movie Frozen will also make appearances, according to Eagar. While in previous years, the event featured photo opportunities with Santa’s reindeer, Eagar said the tradition had to be stopped for various reasons, including liability and other commitments. In the reindeers’ place, this year’s main feature will be pony rides on Dec. 9, the final day of the festival. Eagar, who has been involved with the festival’s planning since its beginning, said her favourite part of the event is meeting all the families that come to Bragg Creek, and seeing the children’s faces light up with everything that’s happening. “We have a huge amount of people who come from Calgary and, quite often, they come every year,” she said. “We have people from all walks of life that come and enjoy the festival, so that’s always nice to see.” The Bragg Creek Spirit of Christmas Festival runs Dec. 1 and 2 and Dec. 8 and 9, from 12 to 4 p.m., in the hamlet’s business corridor on Balsam and White Avenues. A map indicating which businesses are participating in the festival this year and what they offer is available on the Chamber of Commerce’s website.
